Love?
by casualSnickers
Summary: A basic prequel to A Monster From the Surface because I have nothing better to do.
1. Are You Gonna Eat That?

Golden sunlight slanted through the jade green canopies, the foggy forest floor illuminated as the morning sun rose slowly over the treetops. The leafy foliage of a holly bush trembled and a fat vole exploded from the underbrush pursued by a rabid hungry fox. It scrambled over a sandy boulder, its squeal ear-splitting as it pushed its way into a narrow cleft. The fox barked, frustrated before turning tail and fleeing into the woods. The foam from its lips dripped onto the ground.

Hazel watched curiously with one slanted eye, perched on a twisted root of an oak tree. Her ash brown fur, messy and spiky in multiple places was now full-grown with new rosettes rustling in the warm breeze. She unsheathed her long black claws and raked them through the bark of the tree, relishing the sound before bringing them back to sparkle in the sunlight.

"Mmm." She yawned, revealing huge pointed canines and rows of razor-sharp teeth. "Almost noontime…? A quick hunt wouldn't hurt."

She leaped down to the base of the tree and padded south, opening her jaws to draw in the scent of prey. The delicious scent of a pheasant wafted more closely through the open woods where no undergrowth remained to cover her. She shrugged and tracked the scent through the thin birch forest. Dry summer leaves crackled under her paws and the sound of a flowing stream nearby stopped her. Just a mouthful. She padded to the stream and dipped her head, letting the cool water bathe her tongue. Tiny droplets sparkled on the tips of her whiskers and she shook her head soon finding the tantalizing scent of the pheasant. It had soon led her to a grassy opening.

Tall stalks of golden gorse wafted in the wind along with clumps of lavender and tansy. The pheasant in question lay at the center of the clearing, searching among the grass for any insects that might suit its appetite. Its golden feathers glinted in the heavy summer sun only broken by its movement as it jumped over a tall stalk of grass. Only then did she notice the size of it. Around three feet with plenty of bulk to spare; a male. She would've loved to find a pregnant female, but this would do for the time being.

Hazel brought herself around to be downwind of her prey, her haunches bunched and ready for the kill. As the quail brought its head down to search another time, she exploded from the shelter of the gorse and closed her strong jaws around her prey's head, crunching its skull easily between her teeth. The sweet taste of warm blood flooded her mouth but she couldn't eat here. The scavengers would find her and the last thing she wanted was rabies.

Soon enough, Hazel had found herself a cozy hollow in a tree trunk to shelter in, ripping the quail apart with present delight. Its flesh was very juicy and tender, a good meal for a predator that hadn't eaten since yesterday morning. The only pickings she found out here in the fields were ground birds and the occasional vole."Man, I kinda wish I hadn't eaten it so fast!" She swiped her tongue around her lips and stretched, picking up the remaining chunks of the bird. It had taken a few scrapes of her paws to bury the mangled corpse just beyond the trunk but with luck, a hungry scavenger would come along and finish it for her. She had other things to worry about.

She had just arrived in the states only a month prior by sneaking into the cargo area of a commercial plane heading for the states. The fat prey around France was to die for but after a few weeks of eating a few goats and cows, Hazel had gotten sick with something that the farmers had fed their cattle to ward off hungry wolves. There was no turning back after biting into that infected hen. They just had to ruin it.

After many hours worrying about the plane crashing into the ocean, she had landed safely south of North Carolina and was heading northwest towards the Pacific. She had already made her plan while she had been sleeping amongst the baggage. "Once I land, head towards the Great Plains. Nobody will be daft enough to find me." She paused, her ears flattening as an aviatress ran through the isles above. She shuddered. "From there, go towards Washington. There should be enough prey there to last me years!"

She had backtracked through the swamplands simply because of the rally that was going through Tennessee at the moment, but now she had managed to get to Kansas and the only bad thing she had presumed about traveling through Kansas was the fact that it was mostly nothing but rolling fields. She should've taken more into account before she had crossed the had taken refuge near the edge of a farmer's fields, peering out of the treeline.

She was getting tired of staying here, afraid of being found by the human owners. The prey around here was always stringy, tasted terrible, or was taken by the humans. She hadn't slept in days, using her strength to move from place to place in search of the perfect hunting ground.

"I'll leave at midnight. Half circle the house and stay clear of the coop, otherwise, the dog will hear." She had to leave Kansas as fast as possible, for there was nothing worse than being followed by a Rottweiler and an angry gun-wielding farmer with chickens to protect. She had found that out when a fox more daring than she had tried to make a snack of the resident chickens. The farmer had sicked his beast of a dog on it and had burned it in the fields. Humans were absolutely terrifying. She had to get through Kansas, then Nebraska and finally the barren state of Wyoming. There, she would be able to rest until it was time to relocate to Idaho. There, she would be free.

Night had fallen. The fields were alive with chirping crickets, owls hooted from far away, and the farmer's house was dead quiet. He had patrolled his territory and had locked everything down for the night. The full moon sat high in the sky, shedding enough light on the land for Hazel to just barely figure out where to put her paws. Now was the time to act. Hazel had stuffed herself with enough prey that morning to lend her energy for three day's worth of traveling. Now, she snuck through the treeline with her head down and her ears pricked. She glanced over the tall grass, her orange eyes glowing faintly in the night. "Better keep moving."

With a reluctant glance over her back, she shot forward from the patch of forest and ran straight through the swaying fields of wheat, careful about not making too much noise. She zigzagged away from a patch of loose gravel but accidentally splashed through a shallow puddle of mud. A loud bark rang eerily through the night which just made Hazel run faster. She skidded once on a patch of dead grass but kept on, her claws digging into the turf. A series of flustered barks sounded but they were many lengths behind her. With them came a loud gunshot. The human had joined in.

Hazel pushed herself harder, her legs aching as she swerved to avoid a small field of broken glass. Too late, as one had pierced one of her paw pads. She snapped her muzzle shut, stopping momentarily to yank out the offending piece of glass. The barking grew even louder. She began moving farther away from the chicken coop until only the rustling grass gave away her position. She had made it halfway across the field when she heard voices following her path. She stopped, flattening herself to the ground.

"Did you hear that?"

"No. Why the hell are we out here, John?" Heavy footfalls walked a few paces east of her followed by the loud squelching noises of boots in watery mud. "I don't hear shit."

"Even Darris heard it! Ain't that right, boy?" Hazel could hear the snuffling sounds of the dog but it hadn't caught her scent. Yet. She quietly crept through the fields, her fur flattened to her spine. All she had to do was get as far away from this farm as possible. No more dogs, no more people, no more danger but nature itself.

"If there's a wolf looking for a snack, Darris would've caught it by now. There's nothing out here boy. Come on. Let's go back inside." The two men and their dog had given up and trailed back slowly towards the big house. When they were ten fox-lengths behind, Hazel gave away all of her camouflage and exploded out of the wheat, her long tail streaming behind her.

"There! There!" The dog barked again and shot forward. She sped up, her paws flying over the mud. A bullet had struck the dirt towards her right. Another had managed to graze her ear. She couldn't help but yelp in pain, feeling the warm blood slip down her cheek.

"You're a terrible shot. Gimme that!" Before he had time to cock the gun again, Hazel had disappeared in the fields. Her breath as coming in ragged gasps long before she had stopped. They won't catch me, she thought. I'm already gone. She had managed to run fifteen miles nonstop before she had to stop and catch her breath. Her paws were bleeding heavily, the skin not used to the tough terrain. The bullet had made a small but burning graze in her ear and she had torn a claw.

The only thing to surround her was open fields and the moonlight. She slowly but surely picked herself up carefully before carrying on at a slow trot. The farmers hadn't come after her but she wanted to be out of range before morning came. She trudged on for an hour, listening to nothing but the sounds of crows calling and perhaps wolves coming to finish the job of getting a midnight snack.

Before long she had come to the end of the golden fields, the lack of cover feeling foreign to her. She glimpsed upwards at the sky, the moon only setting a few inches to the left than it had the night before. She was almost to Nebraska. Almost. Morning was coming. And there was no more tall grass to hide her anymore. It was either prowl in the open or retreat. And she was not one to simply give up.

* * *

Sans sat in the backseat next to Papyrus, listening to his own music that deafened him to his brother's raucous calls. His phalanges trailed over the subtle rips in the soft seat covers that Toriel had tried to sew back together. Blunt crayons and crumbs littered the floor of the car so that it looked as though the vehicle had never been cleaned out before. Papyrus seemed to be yelling about something and Undyne shot him a look. He took out his headphones only to be bombarded with noise.

"THE HUMAN CHILD SAYS THEY ARE HUNGRY, ASGORE-CLONE!" Asgore stayed at the wheel, seeming to glance over his shoulder every minute or so as he guided the car down a forlorn highway. The meter never went past sat beside him with a purse full of different maps but a large map of the midwest lay propped up on the dashboard. Her own paws flitted over the surface as if trying to find something among the grids.

"This hotel is only a few minutes away." She pointed out tiredly, still reeling from the night before. Asgore sent her a sympathetic glance and avoided a large pothole in the road. "Fifteen minutes inward from Colorado."

"When did we depart from Utah?" Undyne asked, though she already knew the answer. A never-ending game of 'are we there yet' was still not enough to make Asgore pull out his beard hairs. Toriel answered for him.

"Two hours ago." Toriel chided. "And we're almost there! Settle down!" She called over her shoulder. Sans couldn't help but feel that her old authoritative nature had washed away long ago when the barrier had come down. Papyrus and Undyne were having a thunderous arm-wrestling contest over the backseats. Frisk and Flowey were having a loud game of Pictionary and clue through the huge windows. Alphys was watching a superhero anime in the backseat with a notebook parked near her hip. Everybody was doing their best to keep themselves entertained. In the middle of this fiasco was Sans, who had only come along because Papyrus had begged him to go.

"I HAVEN'T SEEN YOU IN A WHOLE WEEK SANS!" Papyrus had nearly screeched over the phone. Sans kept the receiver an arm-length away from his skull, while he graded the exams on his desk with the other.

"you'll see me soon enough paps." He replied, grunting as the last pencil he had dropped off the edge of the table.

"BUT TORIEL SAYS THAT SHE IS PLANNING A ROAD TRIP. WON'T YOU PLEASE COME WITH US? PLEASE?!"

Sans grunted. He had had no choice but to agree, seeing as how Papyrus had gotten both Papyrus and Frisk had guilt tripped him from across the world to join in. "hey tori. what's going to be the plan in Colorado?" Sans asked in a mellow voice. At least it was better than grading final exams back in England. He grew tired of listening to the same old news with the same old rain and boggy weather.

"I thought we could explore the national parks!" Toriel trilled, fixing the bedazzled glasses on her snout. "We could visit the botanical gardens and then visit the slopes-" She began but was loudly interrupted.

"CAN WE GO SKIING? HOW ABOUT WE-" Papyrus squealed but Toriel cut him off.

"No Papyrus, we aren't going skiing. We'll be taking tours around the mountains." Toriel paused flashing Sans a prize-winning grin over her shoulder. "Besides, I already planned a helicopter ride and-"

"HELICOPTER RIDE?!" Sans was surprised that the car windows hadn't shattered. "ARE WE REALLY?"

"Yes. We'll be going on tour around the slopes tomorrow. We might be going for a boat ride but that hasn't been decided yet. So we'll be staying in Colorado for at least a week. Then we move to Texas."

"The car needs gas," Asgore announced in a monotone voice. "Toriel, is there a gas station anywhere within five miles?" She brought the map closer before nodding.

"There's one on the right. It should be coming up in five minutes- there it is!" Asgore pulled the giant minivan into the abandoned lot. A dinky building sat in the back of the lot with maybe four gas pumps lined up. He raised an eyebrow suspiciously before unbuckling his seatbelt.

"How does anybody work out here?" Undyne questioned, peering out the window. The only scenery around for miles was nothing but bare grassland and the occasional farm or two.

"I often wonder that myself. I'll be back in a few minutes. Sit tight." Asgore hopped out of the car, using his keys to lock the doors behind him.

"I'm coming with you," Toriel announced. "Does anybody want any snacks? It'll take another hour to reach Denver."

"ME!"

"Me!" Undyne had screeched. Frisk signed from their position next to Sans.

"me." After they had all listed what they wanted, Asgore and Toriel disappeared into the tiny shop with Papyrus and Undyne pausing long enough to join in with Frisk's game of 'I spy'. He popped in this headphones and let his gaze drift up towards the rood of the car. Today was going to be a long day.

* * *

Morning had come and gone with no breaks in between to eat or sleep. Hazel had managed to cross the entirety of the Kansas prairie with only one bathroom break. The last time she had gone was seven hours ago. Now she was ambling slowly along a broken down road, grateful that rarely anybody passed by. Just her and the rustling wind in her moist fur.

She could smell the tantalizing scent of pigs just a few blocks away but she couldn't stop or even dare to look in that direction. She had to be passing along the boundary of a farm. It was only recently that she had been met with an impasse. Farms surrounded her at every turn with multiple people working day and night and dogs everywhere. There was no tall grass to hide in and no patches of forest to sleep in. She had no choice but to blend in with society; thank the heavens that she had stolen some clothes from back in Arkansas. It was just a red flannel and a pair of khaki shorts but that was better than nothing, right?

There were two things that bothered her about walking around in the open. The first being that fact that all of the farmers were humans. She hadn't seen a monster in weeks and the time that she had, it had been a prosecution of crime. But she had fled before she could suffer the same fate. She had no idea what to expect here on the edge of Kansas.

The second was the fact that humans were terrifying in general. Giant metal cars that could go faster than a racing cheetah, metal contraptions that could get humans across oceans. The sheer span of technology used for simply getting food. If humans weren't so unpredictable, she would've come to love them. But when you see a live human roasting alive on the side of a road wrapped in plastic bags done by another human, it changes a person.

She had kept along the side road, her paw pads sore and torn from walking over hot concrete and tar. Occasionally, a sharp pebble of a rogue piece of glass would catch in the wound. It would hurt like hell. She could smell it bleeding onto the pavement. Her torn claw was no better, as both her injured paws and her shot ear were swollen and red. She could only hope that they weren't infected but there was only so much she could do now that she had stepped onto human turf.

She was so close to Nebraska, she could almost taste the new prey between her teeth. Sweat dripped through her fur and landed on the pavement with a heavy sizzle. To an outsider, she looked normal from a distance. But once you got close, she looked as though she just dragged herself out of a meat grinder. Her fur was filthy, covered in mud, feathers, torn up grass, bits of gravel, and stained with her own blood and the former crust of her prey from yesterday. Her fur was matted and slick with oil and sweat. She couldn't remember the last time she had groomed properly. She had a few healing scratches from days past and to anybody that didn't know here, she was a like a ravenous and flea-bitten wolf that walked among the complex.

Before she saw it, she heard it. The familiar sound of a car passing in the opposite direction. She saw the long brown hood driving slowly, the driver behind it gripping the steering wheel with frustrated eyes focused on the road. Hazel's red flannel flapped in the wind which at the time was similar to a bright neon sign flashing at night. It had only taken a split second; the driver glanced her way, crimson eyes narrowing in confusion before widening in surprise. He slammed on the breaks resulting in Hazel covering her ears with her paws as the car screeched to a halt.

There was no tall grass to disappear in and the only way was many lengths away. Already, the driver was quickly trying to get out of the car. In her panicked confusion that was her sign to get the hell away from there. She had seen too many things go wrong when people walked through the open country. Abductions, rape, murder, decapitated heads found but never their bodies.

"Hazel?" She turned on her heel, meeting many pairs of eyes. Only one seemed to freeze her to the spot. Burning golden yellow eyes that were full of shock, surprise, and anger that could only belong to one person: Undyne. Hazel drew away slowly, every muscle in her body screaming for her to turn tail and run as far as possible. But that wasn't possible at the moment. Somebody else had found her eyes; tiny pinpricks of light that had pretty much threatened to follow if she tried to make a run for it.

Hazel's throat felt dry and tight, as Asgore, Undyne, and Sans had exited the car. Three people that were each a threat to her. Three familiar and unexpected faces. Out in the middle of the sticks with no way to escape without detection. Three against one, who was famished, severely dehydrated, wounded, and desperately tired. She was sure that their eyes were watching her every movement.

"Hazel!" Undyne had repeated, her voice disbelieving as she easily crossed the thin verge of the road. Her scent was the same as it had been two years prior. Still smelling of sweat and sushi. Hazel could say nothing, her fur bushed out to make her look twice as big. Undyne moved closer, her arms spread out to catch her if she tried to make a run for it.

"...Undyne." She had choked out at last, her eyes relaxing until all of the fear in her body had melted away and replaced with predatory wariness and cunning. She wasn't going to be caught without going down with a fight. She turned to face Asgore and Sans who were slowly approaching on each side of her. "...Asgore? Sans…?" She backed up, her tail lashing behind her. She wasn't used to so many people around her at the same time.

"Where have you been?" Undyne roared, making a swipe for Hazel. She flinched badly and ducked away, almost making it the edge of the verge before the hem of her shirt had been caught. She was roughly pulled back from the verge towards the car, Undyne yanking her with a tight grip on her shirt. Panic made her voice squeak like a kit.

"Let me go!" Hazel almost yelped, using her blunt claws to slice away at the piece that Undyne held in a death grip. Before she could even move, she was involuntarily frozen to the spot.

"where are you trying to escape to kid?" Came an icy cold drawl.

"In particular, anywhere but here!" She retorted, her voice cracking on the last word. Primary fear had gripped her body tightly Hazel watching as Sans held her soul in his hands almost teasingly as if holding it like a trophy. Her instincts forced her to remember when she had been impaled in the stomach, quietly dying as her insides liquefied. "Can I go now? I have somewhere to get to!" She yowled, struggling but to no avail.

"Not a chance," Undyne replied evenly. "Drop her Sans. Papyrus, move back. The kid is sitting between Sans and me." Sans had relinquished his magic with a swipe of his hands, letting Hazel drop back onto the road. At that, Hazel screeched loud enough to crack the windows before putting a great distance between herself and the car. "Try to run again and I will personally impale you to the seats," Undyne growled, a spear appearing in her hands.

"Try me," Hazel replied lowly, her slitted eyes moving from the car to Undyne to Sans and back again. "You're not getting me in that death-contraption!"

"Never been in a car before? Too bad. Sans!" Before he could raise his hand, Hazel created a diversion. She manipulated the heat and increased it, making it so hot and bright that merely standing in the sun hurt and it almost blinded anybody who opened her eyes. Undyne cursed and took shelter but it didn't seem to faze Sans who had no skin or eyes to take the bait. Too late, as Hazel was already many lengths away and was quickly getting harder to see in the burning sunlight.

"Into the car! Quickly!" She heard Undyne yell. Asgore revved the engine and the car doors closed. Hazel could run just a bit faster than a car but when it came to Sans's penchant for soul detection, trying to hide wasn't an option. He would be able to sense and track her soul down easily. She already had plenty of experience with that in the Underground after being speared and stabbed at every turn. She could only hope that she had enough energy and magic to keep them distracted long enough for her to get away.

She pushed hard, her paws flying over the burning turf. Any cut that was gained from walking on the hot tar was immediately open, her bleeding paws leaving splatters in the grass. "Follow the blood stains!" Undyne roared. She could hear the rubber tires squealing against the hot pavement and knew that she had to speed up if she wanted to get away unscathed. She soon gained distance between herself and the road thanks to adrenaline, taking to the fields. If that car wasn't all-terrain, they wouldn't be able to follow her.

She left the verge and crossed a wide water-filled ditch, the sounds of the car growing farther and farther until only the sound of the field and circling blackbirds were present. She skidded to a stop, her legs buckling underneath her as she flopped to the ground. The heavy tang of blood and sweat hung in the air. She had torn another claw, this one bleeding heavily but she had nothing to staunch the bleeding. She could only hope that her body was robust enough to keep her going.

Dark clouds gathered overhead with the promise of rain and maybe a good storm. Hazel breathed heavily, her throat burning and her chest tightened as she tried to regain her breath. Her paws throbbed with hot pain and she gritted her teeth as she pulled out a few pieces of glass from her legs. Her body was reaching its limit. She could feel her energy draining quickly. Four days with no sleep were really taking its toll on her and her body was starting to lose its ability to keep up with its demands and the stress she was putting on it.

She could do nothing but lie there, her dark fur blending in with the grass and mud around her but not for long. The blood from her paws would clearly leave a trail to her. But if it started raining, that track would be washed away. She let herself think about it momentarily before the fear came rushing back. She gasped in pain again. She needed to move, but her body remained still as if defying her wish to live. The grass to her left rustled rapidly and Hazel swung her head to meet it. She would go down swinging.

"hey kit." Of fucking course. Only Sans had emerged from the grass, his eyes not threatening her but wildly worried and curious. But they were focused on her bloody paws, the torn claws, and the bits of broken glass; not her entirety. His hand was raised, threatening to hold her if she tried to run for the third time but the grasp was weak. She knew what he was doing: checking her. Checking her health and resolve. Her stats. All she could do was pant and choke, still trying to breathe evenly.

"something the matter?" Sans spoke after a while. HIs voice was dangerously low and his grip on her soul had tightened.

"Oh, you know," Hazel began sarcastically. "Just trying to get as far away from you as possible. But of course, I'm pursued by the devil himself and a ripped military warrior. Nothing to it." She let her head lay in the grass, drained of all her energy. Now was the time to accept defeat.

"get away from us? you've been avoiding us for two years?" Sans looked genuinely hurt and confused.

"No. I didn't even know you all were on a road trip. But when you're threatened to be stuffed into a moving deathtrap on wheels, it's fight or flight. Do what you want. I'm too exhausted to retaliate." She felt hot pain lance up her paws, only then noticing that two of her claws had been torn and one was a few sinews away from being ripped off of her paws. Sans seemed to have noticed it too.

"you're hurt badly. i'll take you back to tori."

"No thanks," Hazel growled aggressively. "I can take care of it myself. Why don't you just off me and tell the others that you lost me out here in the grass or something like that?"

"you think i'm going to kill you?"

"I don't think. I expect." She grunted out, feeling the claws in her throat ease their grip.

"well, i'm not going to murder you so you're just going to have to deal with it." Hazel laughed and eyed her captor with a glint of dark humor. Sans finally released his grip and squatted down beside her. "so after two long years of hearing nothing from you, you expect us to suddenly find you beat up on the side of the road and just kill you?"

"Pretty much, yeah." The primary fear of being hunted to death left Hazel reeling. It was replaced by confusion and exhaustion. "I mean, i presumed you would think that I would go back to how it was before I fell into the Underground. Makes sense, doesn't it?" Hazel paused, her eyes moving back up towards the sky.

"no. the least you could've done is check in with tori. or paps. they both went crazy looking for you after you disappeared. manhunts around the county and everything. we thought you were dead kid. disappearing off the face of the planet like that." Hazel grunted, rolling her eyes.

"No thanks. I prefer to look after myself, thank you very much. I-" Hazel began to argue but Sans cut her off.

"that's it then. back to tori." Before she could move, Sans had hoisted her into the air with his magic. He floated her back through the grass over the same ditch that she had leaped minutes before. "found her undyne."

"You found her? Bring her over here! And fast! Don't let her go." Undyne scowled, motioning Sans to bring her around the car. She screeched in panic, her fur fluffing up again.

"I am not getting into that human death trap! I'd rather be strapped to the ceiling!"

"That can be arranged." Undyne smiled wickedly, a roll of duct tape in her hands.

Sans smiled. He shot a cheeky smile up at her. "you're still the same, even after two years."

"And you're still as nosy as ever." Hazel sighed, relaxing her fur to lay flat on her body. Undyne had told the others to come around and help secure her paws. Papyrus had eagerly bounced forward while Frisk was peering around the corner, awe in their eyes. Toriel and Asgore had taken one look at her bleeding wounds and had changed seats.

"We don't need another speeding ticket, Toriel." Asgore reasoned but Toriel checked the mirrors and turned the car around."

"Let's get going!" Undyne roared and before Hazel could get free between Sans and Undyne, Toriel had accelerated the car so quickly that Hazel could only screech with terror as they gunned down the road.


	2. An Old Perspective

Hazel struggled to stay awake, her eyes fixed on the blank gray ceiling of the car as it bounced precariously along the road. Undyne had removed the duct tape that held her to the seats but even then, she couldn't move a muscle. She was definitely sure that most of her open wounds were infected and the extra crumbs in the seat creases weren't making them any better as they pushed their way into her open wounds.

She was hyper-aware of the fact that she was sitting in a car. A human contraption. She had never been in one before. It was almost eerily surreal, watching the surroundings blur into a colorful palette of colors as Toriel sped down the road like a madman. She had seen how fast cars could go and what they could do from a distance. They normally stuck to the tar-paved roads and rarely did they go off of them. She had seen enough splattered roadkill to know that anything humans made was automatically deadly. She had once sworn that she would never be caught in a car.

But here she was. Undyne and Alphys were talking resolutely about how they were going to go on all the hiking trails whether it be river banks, mountains or forests. Papyrus was too busy hoarding all the snacks under his scarf, arguing that the chips were depleting too quickly. Sans was completely toned out with his thing, his eyes seeming to focus on nothing and everything at the same time. As for Frisk and Flowey, they had opted to watch the scenery pass by. Hazel remained in a blank state.

As soon as she had a chance, she'd leave again. This was too strange for her liking. Not to mention that the acceleration was a bit too much as the sudden stops made her feel sick every time. But she looked out the window. The plains had turned into patches of rough forest. But there was no undergrowth. No birds or animals, or even garbage. Nothing but empty trees and forests. Her head began to spin and dip and she felt her fur crawl with apprehension.

"I can see the city!" Toriel declared at last, shoving the map hastily into her purse. Hazel felt as though her stomach had dropped to the floor. The last time she had been in a city was three years ago. And that was enough to trigger the memories. She shuddered uncontrollably and pressed herself into the back of the seat, her torn claws gripping the edges. The others had pressed up against the windows, eager to see the city. She found herself wondering where the two-hour trip had taken her in the first place.

"you alright kid?" Sans had nudged her gently, his eyes fixed on the crusted bullet wound near the base of her ear. She struggled to shrug her shoulders this time, instead fixing her eyes on her lap. Her teeth chattered and her ears were flattened to the base of her skull.

"...I'm fine." She croaked after a while, her voice dying out at the last consonant.

"you sure don't sound like it," Sans grunted out, his eyes catching her extended claws. Undyne had noticed as well, using her free arm to grip her shoulder. Hazel tried to swat away her arm but her body wouldn't move. "are those... uh, injuries getting worse?" Hazel could see the patches disappear into tall metallic buildings, the unnatural glint of sunlight making her breath catch in her throat. Other cars whizzed past, a few blasting music so loud that Hazel had to cover her ears with her paws.

"Well, they're not getting better, that's for certain." She murmured under her breath. Her fur had begun to stand along her skin and she felt herself sweating profusely. Wasn't there a way to get out of this hotbox? But she already knew the answer from spending the first hour scanning every nook and crevice for a means of escape. "Where are we anyway?" She asked nervously.

"Denver, Colorado." Hazel had to snap her jaws shut to keep from screeching at the top of her lungs. Colorado? Wait a second.

"Are you guys on a road trip or something?" She framed the question delicately, not letting the panic find its way through her voice.

"yep." Came Sans's reply, a bit too happy for her liking. "We just came from Utah." She instantly paused. Utah? As in, she had actually overshot her marker?

"Wait. What state did you guys find me in?"

"uh... wyoming? you're sure you're alright?"

"Huh." Hazel felt pissed. Not only did she misjudge the tiny size of Kansas, but she had overshot Nebraska and had made it into Wyoming without even knowing it! And now, she was going backward. Away from her goal. Great.

"something wrong?" Sans had shoved his headphones into his pocket, stifling a yawn as he glanced out the window. He wasn't the one panicking. It was a good thing the others couldn't smell fear.

"It's nothing. Forget about it." But Hazel had already made an escape plan. Assuming that Sans and Undyne were apparently her guards, she would wait until the entire group went to sleep to escape. If Sans was put on guard, she would have to distract him before making a clean getaway. If Undyne was on guard, she would just have to be sneaky. Then came the obstacle of getting out of Denver in one piece. She needed more time to think.

Toriel slowed down near the pass of a giant wooden sign, a few cars lined up in front of her in a roundabout. Men in uniform walked around slowly, peering inside of cars with flashlights. "Ooh! This is exciting! A new state!" Toriel squealed. "Do you have the camera Asgore?"

"Yes, the camera is in the glove compartment." He switched open the compartment under the dash and took out a small metal box. "Got it!" He pressed a button on the top and turned it around. He then began to point towards various things with the camera and often pressed another button on the top. Hazel couldn't see what the heck he was doing.

"Toriel, are we still going skiing tomorrow?" Undyne asked. Hazel paused. What was skiing?

"Tomorrow. For today, we'll set up our hotel rooms for the night. It's a good thing I booked three rooms. One for each group." Toriel explained delicately.

"three rooms?" Sans cocked a bone brow, apparently assuming that the eight of them would be sharing one room with one bed the size of a toothpick.

"Three to each!" Toriel declared, pausing to correct herself. "I've already made the arrangements prior before we left Utah! Frisk and Flowey will be staying with Asgore and I. Undyne and Alphys have requested their own room. Sans and Papyrus have their own as well!" Hazel nodded along, hoping that nobody would say anything about the last fact: there was an extra party-goer.

She came up with an extra plan. When everybody splits up to go into their separate rooms, she'll just split away as if she were following somebody and disappear and the others would think that she's sharing a room with somebody else. But only temporarily. That would buy her an hour to escape the building and blend in with the city. But her hopes were quickly dashed.

"I don't mean to put you down Toriel," Undyne began. "But what about Hazel? Whose room is she staying in?" Hazel tried hard not to scowl, giving herself away. She could still plan herself around this.

"How about I just stay outside-" Hazel began but was interrupted by Undyne glaring at her.

"And escape when we're not looking. Nice try, but that's not going to work."

"SHE CAN STAY IN OUR ROOM! RIGHT SANS?" Papyrus piped up from the backseat.

"sure paps."

"And if there's three to a room, there's plenty of beds!" Undyne cheered, practically forcing Hazel to cheer with her. She knew that there were plenty of miscalculations in the last part but she remained silent. Another plan would be needed.

The line of cars went by slowly before Toriel could pass safely, and when they did, Hazel did her best not to look at the tall buildings around her. She could only think about how long it would take to fall from one of them or what it would be like to have one of them fall on her. Too many humans to count shuffled by on concrete trails wrapped in their own minds. She felt cornered like a caged animal, her breathing growing ragged and heavy. But the noise within the car was too loud to hear her through it.

They soon came to a large skyscraper, the parking lot almost filled to the brim. Toriel had parked the minivan near the back of the lot. "I'll unpack the car." Said Asgore. "You all go and open the rooms." Hazel was about to suggest that she help unpack the car too before Toriel caught her fiercely by the arm.

"Let's get you to the room fast. I need to see those wounds myself."

"I can take care of it myself-"

"I don't want to hear it, my child. Come along." As Toriel led on to the front lobby, Sans and Undyne guarded the rear of the group making sure that she couldn't escape. But Toriel left Hazel to her guards, leaving to check in with the front desk. She had left Hazel with them so that the attendants wouldn't ask them why one of their passengers looked as though they had been through a meat grinder."Alright, I've got the keys. Here."

Toriel passed around three golden keys, each having a loud bell and a feather attached to the handle. The tops were labeled with the number they belonged to.

Toriel and her group were in room seventy-two, a room on the eleventh floor. Undyne and Alphys took room twenty-five, a room on the fifth floor. Sans's group had taken the last key of all, room two-o-seven on the thirtieth floor. Hazel felt sick around so many humans, a few bumping into her without saying much but when she had glimpsed the key she reclined against the wall. She followed Sans and Papyrus slowly as they led her through the strange building, coming towards a small room with metal doors.

"What is this?" Hazel muttered under her breath, Sans pulling her in. Almost suddenly, the metal doors closed tightly behind her and the floor lurched underneath her paws. Hot fear lanced up her spine as she pressed up against the walls, her breathing spiking quickly into hyperventilating.

"relax kid. it's just an elevator."

"Don't tell me to relax!" She snapped, her eyes darting wildly around the small cramped room. "This is nowhere near normal!"

"we had elevators in the Underground and you didn't seem all that surprised then." Sans pointed out.

"That was the Underground, where dog boats exist, trampoline steam vents can lift people over boiling magma, and magical flowers that can repeat full sentences existed. That's acceptable there. Not here where the makers of a fifty-four-floor building above the ground share the same makers of bombs, mustard gas, and nuclear warfare. There's a difference!" Hazel protested, but Sans was hearing none of this. As soon as the elevator doors opened, Hazel tore out of the doors, her fur fluffed up with nausea and fear. "Never again." She cursed wildly under her breath.

The two brothers took her by the hands and led her down a few decorated hallways, each door embroidered with their individual number.

"HERE WE ARE! ROOM TWO HUNDRED AND SEVEN! AND THE KEY FITS!" Papyrus opened the door with the key, leaving Hazel to shuffle in first. It wasn't anything special. Four walls, two beds, a tv in the corner and a passageway to a bathroom. A small window was built into the other side of the room letting little light in. And the bloody sunset light that filtered in was startlingly eerie.

"there's only two beds. i thought there was supposed to be three…?" Even as Sans spoke, Hazel knew that she was taking the floor. She hadn't slept in a bed since… well… forever. And the beds looked as though they could only fit one person. She was more used to sleeping on the hard ground anyway, with or without a cover.

"That's cool. I'll just take the floor." Hazel flopped down against the empty wall near the window, breathing a sigh of relief. If anything, the muted wind outside was enough comfort for her. Everything ached, her ears hurt, and she just wanted to eat and go to sleep.

"SANS AND I COULD SHARE A BED." But Hazel waved him away.

"It's fine." Papyrus closed and locked the hotel door behind him, disappearing into the bathroom with a loud clatter. She could still hear him yelling excitedly.

"IT'S GOING TO BE LIKE A SLEEPOVER!" Hazel could barely agree, stopping herself from scratching her arms. Sans had flopped onto the bed nearest the door, a tired expression etched onto his face. "OH! I HOPE YOU DON'T MIND BUT TORIEL HAS INFORMED ME THAT SHE HAS ONE OF OUR BAGS WITH HER." Hazel almost jumped to reply but Papyrus grinned and made his way to the door. "DO NOT THINK THAT I DON'T KNOW WHAT YOU'RE PLANNING, MONSTER CHILD. YOU MUST STAY HERE. I WILL GO AND FETCH OUR STUFF!" And with that, he was as good as gone.

"trying to escape, huh kid?" Sans had turned onto his side, facing Hazel directly. They were both in terrible states. Sans had dark bags under his eyes. His clothes were laced with crumbs and a few tears in some places; clearly gained on the trip here. Only then did she notice that he looked a lot more different than how he had back in the underground.

"You look different. You got a new outfit?" She teased nonchalantly. He still had a blue hoodie, just not the same one as before. It had silver and gray fur around the edges and the blue color was darker. The familiar striped shorts had been switched to simple black sweatpants, but of course, he still had those damn slippers.

"the old jacket shrunk." Sans replied loftily, not giving anything away. "so where have you been?"

"Everywhere." Sans grunted, his smile tight and imposing. So much for making a joke, thought Hazel, bringing her chewed tail to her chest.

"can you be any more specific? two years off the grid and the first thing you bring up is my new outfit?"

"Loose lips sink ships. Ever heard of it? And if you didn't know, I've always been off the grid." She chided, pausing to adjust a stray piece of hair in her eyes. But she knew that Sans would just keep not subtly asking her personal questions. "So what do you want to know?" She uttered out after a while.

"like i said before. where were you for the last two years?"

"Like I said before, everywhere. Europe, Asia, Australia, Africa. You name it, I probably went there. I was simply traveling around like I used to do."

"and you didn't think of calling us or at least visiting?"

"I didn't know where you lived and I mostly stayed away from human cities." She concluded. "Simply to put it, I went back to doing what I was doing before I fell."

"is that why you're bleeding everywhere?" Sans retorted.

"That was the work of traveling and being shot at." Hazel retorted angrily, glaring at her ripped claws.

"shot at?" Sans spoke with a hint of fear and worry in his voice.

"It was nothing but a farmer with a loaded gun. Didn't you guys say you found me in Wyoming? There's a lot of rural land out there, right?" Hazel smiled in satisfaction as Sans agreed under his breath.

"stats?"

"Not much has changed. A few exceptions but what it there to expect in the sticks?" This time, Hazel let a cocky grin flash across her muzzle, raising her paws as if protecting herself from harm.

"you killed somebody?" Sans questioned roughly.

"Maybe it was self-defense? Or perhaps because there are sickos out there who do inhumane things to other humans? You tell me, Sans. What do you think?" Hazel drawled.

"i don't think anything, and you're not answering my question." Sans now sat upright, his hands clasped in his lap. There was no air for joking in the room anymore. No more sarcasm. No more shrugging. Nothing. "when the barrier broke, you just disappeared without a single word. no warning. you didn't tell us where you were going. you didn't tell us if you were ever coming back. you just disappeared into thin air. so, explain to me the full messy details of what kept you so busy that you couldn't even bother to look us up on a computer."

"Wow. You sure get right to business, don't you?" Hazel sighed running a paw through her messy fur. "Alright, now I get to talk your head off. Still just as nosy as before. I suppose you're going to tell everybody, aren't you? Nevermind, i already know the answer."

"i do have a right to worry about you."

"Can't you just worry about Papyrus?" Hazel snapped, losing her patience. "I don't know how many times I have to tell you guys! I have always been able to take care of myself. I don't need other people breathing down my neck and," She gestured angrily to the small hotel room around her. "Keeping me locked up in some human city that I want to leave with every fiber of my being! Don't tell me you don't remember what I told you." She glared at him with menace. "Me and humans, we don't mix. Ever. I want nothing to do with them and I avoid anywhere that includes being near them. My point is clear enough."

"so you're including frisk?"

"Don't be a smartass. Frisk is okay. I have nothing against them. Being around them is fine! I can handle that. But being surrounded by hundreds, if not thousands of them at once in a small room so tiny that I can spread my arms out and feel the walls feels like I'm being shoved into a cage against my will. Trust me, if I could escape I would've done so in a heartbeat. But seeing as how I'm thirty floors above solid rock and concrete, my bones would shatter should I try to jump out of the window. I can't get out. There's no way for me to escape. So go ahead and kill the messenger!" Hazel stood up, her fur bushed up and her eyes burning.

"And besides that, I didn't want to visit you because I was sure that you had forgotten about me. I wanted you all to forget that I existed so that I could go and live my life and you all could go and live yours. No problems, no worries! As far as I know, that plan has been working out just fine! Everybody is doing great, humans accept monsters, and everything is peaceful and happy. So yeah, I didn't bother looking for you because I chose not to. I had my own solid lifestyle to get back to. And living with you all… among humans? That was not it."

"and how's that lifestyle treating you? traveling by yourself with nothing but the clothes on your back? how do you even do it? you look awful kid. you're covered in mud, blood, and grass. that's better than being healthy and not covered in infected wounds?"

"It's called basic survival skills to blend in and I'll take this over living in modern society any day. Maybe you should go camping sometime. Oh, wait. Nevermind, you don't want to do that." Hazel purposefully smiled but it was more malignant than friendly. "Last time somebody I knew went camping, I found them dead with half of their organs missing. Humans have always been dangerous. If you want to live among them and deal with their trifles, you do that but keep me out of it." She growled.

"sure, kid. Sure, says the person that is clean and healthy."

"That's definitely not what the bags under your eyes suggest." The two sat in total silence, Hazel turning her ears to face the street below. But she turned back to the room as unfamiliar honking noises exploded upwards.

"so if i left open the door, would you disappear again?" Hazel sighed and crossed her arms.

"To be honest, probably not. If I were to leave now, the others would probably go on a manhunt from what you told me. Just like how you all spent years hunting me down. Second, it would be nearly impossible to find my way out of this metal hell cage you call a city. The sun is blocked, there's too much smog to see anything, and I'd get lost before sundown. Either that or abducted in an alleyway." Hazel joked darkly.

"that's not funny." Sans said at last, his eyes narrowed.

"Maybe to you. But yeah, all matters apart, I'm fine except for the fact that everything is bleeding." She brought up her injured forepaw to inspect it, finding the claw that was just barely hanging on by a sinew. "I'm gonna have to rip that off before I do any more traveling. I'm fairly sure that a few of them are infected but then again, it's been like that for a few days."

"i'll text papyrus to bring tori."

"Don't. I can take care of it. You'd think I haven't snagged a claw before!" Hazel laughed, all of her seriousness gone. "It'll grow back in a few months. As for the other wounds, a bit of marigold wouldn't hurt."

"a bit of what?"

"Nevermind. It just takes time to heal." Papyrus had come back with a large bag in his arms. Hazel only then noticed that he wore a gray sweater with brown pants. Where did his old battle body go? She didn't want to bother him, so she opted to quietly chew the rest of her damaged claw off. With a quiet crunch, she had broken through and the dead nail hit the floor with a soft thump.

She cradled her paw against her chest, at least thankful that with company she could try to catch up on her sleep and snooze the pain away. After a few minutes of listening to the brothers talk, she opted to at least get some sleep. She leaned against the wall and shut her eyes, disrupted immediately by a gentle knock at the door.

"I'LL GET IT!" So much for sleeping. Papyrus raced to the door, almost tearing it off of the hinges.

"Papyrus," Came Toriel's motherly voice. "Is Hazel in here?"

"I'm halfway over the windowsill! I think I'll make it to the bottom" Hazel yelled jokingly. Papyrus let Toriel in with a bag in the crease of her elbow.

"Are you alright, child?" Toriel had set the bag down beside her, opening it up to take out a long capped tube. Sans and Papyrus peered eagerly over her shoulder.

"I'm just peachy. What is that?" Hazel pointed a bloody claw at the capped tube.

"I went out and got you some medicine to help you feel better." Dear lord. Hazel remembered just how motherly Toriel could get over something as small as a cut. Or worse, remembering the time that she had had a bit more catnip than she could handle. "I also have some pain medication and some bandages. Now, tell me where the pain is the worst."

"Toriel, I can take care of my wounds myself." Hazel joked, wincing harshly as Toriel reached for her bleeding paw. Hot pain lynched up her hand. She yelped and instantly snatched it away. "Too sensitive!" Toriel let a tiny smile spread across her muzzle.

"Still as stubborn as before, I see. I suppose you can apply it yourself. But, you will take a shower first! Don't worry, I brought you a change of clothes and a few towels."

"How-"

"Don't worry about that dear. They're all in the bag. I also brought you a pair of pajamas and I just happened to notice that your feet were badly injured. I hope you don't mind!"

"Uh, sure…?" Hazel croaked. It had been such a long time since she had been present for Toriel's intense coddling. She wasn't sure how Frisk put up with it. Toriel stood up slowly, before dragging Sans and Papyrus with her out the door.

"WE CANNOT LEAVE-"

"Nonsense! Hazel is just going to take a shower and clean herself up! Isn't that right, Hazel?" She shot a sickly sweet glare over her shoulder as if daring her to make a run for it. Hazel nodded along and let a false smile split her muzzle.

"Yeah, sure, totally, that is most definitely correct. Wow, how'd you know?" Hazel waited until all of them had gone before locking the door behind her. She was totally alone now with nothing but the sounds of the air conditioning and the rustle of wind behind the windows. Wow. Nobody else but her and her thoughts.

"I really could use a shower, huh?" Hazel dumped the items from the bag onto the bed and sorted through them. Neosporin, bandages, a small orange sweater with a pair of gray sweatpants. Wow. A big pair of… footie pajamas? Dinosaur pajamas? Really, Toriel? They were her size too... Hazel put the clothes back into the bag before placing them near the empty corner of the room. She took the medicine and pajamas into the bathroom before shutting and locking the door behind her.

"So, I have to take a shower." She muttered, eyeing the mysterious handle with distaste. "How do I work this thing?" She inched the knob to the left, her ears twitching as the plumbing rumbled underneath her feet. Cold water sprayed out into the stall, causing Hazel to scrunch her nose. "Nah. How do I make the water hot?" She moved the knob a few more inches to the left, waiting patiently. The water went from lukewarm, to warm, to hot, to hellfire. Perfect.

Sans and Papyrus had entertained themselves for over an hour, playing a game of makeshift poker with potato chisps. Of course, Frisk had joined in before long and was now hoarding them on the other end of the table. Flowey pretended to play but he was watching the sun sink over his shoulder. After Papyrus had lost his second stack to the snack monster, Sans finally decided that it was time to check up on Hazel.

"tori. i think it's about time me and paps got back to our room." Sans spoke up from his spot on the hard floor. His tailbone ached slightly; he wouldn't mind bailing on the mountain trek the next morning. Frisk pouted signing a plea to stay.

"sorry kiddo. come on paps." Papyrus waved goodbye to everybody, the two brothers slowly but surely leaving the room behind. Once they were safely in the elevator alone, Papyrus began to speak softly.

"DO YOU THINK SHE'S STILL THERE SANS?"

"not likely bro. and if she is?"

"WE WON'T TELL HER OUR SUSPICIONS." Papyrus resolved just as the elevator came to a lurching stop. The brothers walked down the hall towards their door, but no noise came from the other side. Papyrus retrieved the room key and unlocked the door, letting it open slowly without a sound.

The whole room was almost pitch black; the curtains had been drawn and the bathroom door was completely closed. It was eerily silent. "SANS, TURN ON THE LIGHT." Papyrus whispered, locking the door behind him. Sans moved to the side table, switching on the tiny lamp. The light that came from it was dim but it was enough to make out a huddled figure in the empty corner of the room near the window.

"kid?" Hazel lay against the wall facing the window, the only part of her visible being her tail draped haphazardly across the floor. The beds lay undisturbed. "uh. paps?" Sans moved closer, just barely hearing her as she slept silently. "she's out cold."

"I'LL MOVE THE BEDS TOGETHER. WAIT." He moved the nightstand, pushing the two small beds together with ease. It was still small but better than nothing. They could make a plan as to how to sleep. "ALRIGHT. GIVE HER HERE."

"what are you thinkin'?"

"SHE'LL SLEEP IN THE MIDDLE. WE'LL TAKE THE SIDES. THE BLANKETS AND PILLOWS CAN BE DISTRIBUTED SOMEWHAT EVENLY. THIS WILL HAVE TO DO, SANS." With that, Papyrus set her in the middle and the two brothers fit themselves on the edges. Papyrus turned the lights out and everything was quiet again. Even then, Sans couldn't quite sleep. Something was bound to go wrong here. Anything. But the only thing that broke the silence was Hazel turning over in her sleep.


	3. Who Are You and What Have You Done?

All around him were the sounds of blaring alarms and the smell of blood thick in the air. Dust fell like thin curtains and blended in well with the snow that came up to his knees. Sans coughed into his hand, his tired eyes focused on the falling dust and the blood on his glove. He had had this nightmare one too many times and was used to ending up here when he accidentally dreamed.

He took a foot forward, hearing the crunch of snow under his slippers as he trotted down the path to Snowdin. He had a feeling that something was different but what? But when he arrived at the town bridge, he saw that nothing was out of place. Grillby's was still packed with happy customers, kids were still merrily running around town, and he could've sworn that he had just seen Undyne skirt around the corner after a kid that had graffitied the town inn.

He had passed the library and the path to the river before coming to the place he needed to go. But his gut dropped to his feet; his old house had completely vanished leaving an empty lot of snowballs and a new metal bench that he had never seen before in his life. "the heck?" Undyne had passed again with her victim caught, dragging them pass the clearing.

"are you seein' this undyne?" But if Undyne heard him, she didn't reply. In fact, she didn't even glance in the direction of the lot. She had on her metal armor, strange seeing as how the metal rusted whenever she came here with it on.

"Please let me go! I swear I'll never do it again!" The kid cried. But Sans had never seen this kid anywhere. It didn't look like any monster family he had ever seen before either.

"Lies! You said the same thing when you graffitied the Waterfall statue last week!" Sans blinked before turning back to the empty lot. He parked himself on the bench, his eyes darting from one thing to the next. Things had never taken place like this before. His house was completely gone, he had never seen this metal bench before. Everything felt out of character.

"so i must be in a post-genocide nightmare. this is new…" He mumbled coarsely under his breath. He expected to see somebody watching him from the treeline but nothing. He expected everybody to suddenly disappear but they stayed. The dream seemed to go on forever and before long, night had fallen. Sans clenched his hands in his pockets. Where was Papyrus? Undyne didn't seem partially disturbed. Maybe he was actually okay? Maybe he should try to talk to her and see what was up? He shook his head.

"just... wake up before you see somethin' bad." He repeated over and over, but the cold still swept around him and urged him to get off the bench and leave. Sans got to his feet and turned to follow the trail that led into Waterfall when he stopped. He willed his magic to teleport him there to make it easier but no dice. That was a warning in itself. Maybe if he did something out of character, he would wake up as well. Even as he walked along the trail towards Waterfall, he sensed something truly sinister was up. He took another step forward, almost yelping as he sunk down to his femur in icy cold water.

"huh?" The former icy path was now completely underwater and the cave entrance was blocked by a huge boulder. Various debris swirled along the lazy current. "but didn't undyne just go that way?" Sans choked. He hadn't seen any footprints lead this way. Just as he was about to turn around, he spotted a large metal helmet bump against a rock in the middle of the river before being pushed downstream. He shut his eyes tight and turned around, starting back towards the empty lot. He could only go backwards.

The alarms were still blaring but nobody seemed to notice them. The shops were still glowing warmly and the townsfolk were just starting to get the idea of moving indoors. Sans had the impression that their actions were superficial and that something was pulling their strings. Snow had begun to fall in thick blankets so that Sans had to run to get across the town without sinking deeper.

He had made it to the bridge again, glancing towards the shops to see the shopkeeper close up. When he looked back, he choked on his breath. The bridge had been snapped clean in half like a toothpick. Had it been perfectly fine a few minutes ago? Nobody had made a commotion about it. He then saw that a person was standing on the other side, but it was not the dust-covered person who he was normally expecting.

He was expecting a small kid with an innocent face covered in monster dust with a sharpened kitchen knife gripped fiercely in their tiny hands. He had been expecting dark stained skin with a ripped sweater and boots that were covered in blood and dust as well. He had been expecting to wake up by now, that his ribs would be sliced through like a hot knife through butter. That he would have woken in a cold sweat in the middle of the night by now.

But it was the kid, in that old ratty golden-striped sweater. They were almost completely still, standing so close to the edge that Sans was afraid he would have to watch her first death happen for the second time. But she remained on the edge, her unblinking eyes focused on the broken bridge. She was covered in mud, dirt, and… was that blood?

"kid?" Hazel's eyes snapped towards him, hostile and aggressive. Just like how they were when she always seemed to turn up out of nowhere. But these showed signs of confusion and alarm. She returned to gazing down into the abyss below the bridge, almost leaning over to get a good look at something. So she could see him! Sans checked to see if his magic could teleport him to the other side, snapping his fingers.

When he appeared next to her, she jumped but said nothing. Sans was right. The kid was dripping with old blood, covered in feathers, mud, and ripped up grass. At least it wasn't monster dust. But something was wrong with her. By now, she would've made a sarcastic comment or at least a greeting, friendly or aggressive. But all she did was stare into the gorge, her eyebrows furrowed.

"uh... kid?" She had only appeared in his dreams a few times, and they often weren't good. They were almost always her falling to her death in the gorge or himself watching from far away as he killed her himself. But this was very startling to be an outsider in his own dream. Even she knew something that he didn't.

Even as he thought this, her eyes never left the spot that her eyes were aimed at, staring down into the abyss. A thought struck him. "did somebody fall down there?" He asked. As soon as the words were out of his teeth, the snowy cliff was suddenly replaced by the rocky bottom of the gorge. He had never been down here himself. Barely any sunlight reached down here so that the only visible thing apart from his hands were Hazel's burning eyes. The immense pressure of how deep the gorge was pressed down on him and made his bones ache. A sudden fire had begun to burn, Hazel increased it easily before moving towards something in the darkness. Only then did he discover what she had been looking at.

There was blood everywhere mixed with scattered clumps of dust and various debris. The nauseating stench of mold and rotting flesh rose in the air but along with it came another grisly scent; decomposing monster dust. One thing could hardly be told apart from the other despite Hazel's fire. In the center of it was a broken and busted body. Of his brother, Papyrus. Sans fell to his knees without saying a word, attempting to shut out the darker fears that threatened to assault him should he show weakness.

"Sans." Hazel murmured, forcing him to stare at the remains of his brother. His battle body had been broken into two and thrown into a cleft by a patch of snow where it was breaking down. The scarf, now stained with various bodily fluids was ripped and scattered everywhere, a few pieces blowing in the wind. They must have been here for some time. She forced him to look on with her own emotionless eyes as she pulled him towards the center of the mess.

He could barely make out the gouged remains of his brother's skull, let alone his femur or splintered hands. A few broken teeth were littered about the abandoned rib cage but what was startlingly eerie about the dream was the long silver knife that had been jabbed into the center of Papyrus's sternum. It was clean. No blood and dust remained on it, almost as if it had been teleported there by accident. But that was no accident.

"Sans," Hazel repeated urgently, gesturing at the knife with her eyes.

"i don't want to see it." Sans gasped, trying to turn away, but Hazel pulled him back so that he was almost nose to nose with the corpse of his brother. "i'm not going to see it." He repeated over the over again. He heard the sounds of Hazel moving, the wet dust crunching under her paws as she crawled closer. He listened as she crept over the split bones before a loud slicing sound split the air. Before Sans could move, Hazel had appeared covered from head to toe in monster dust.

And the memories raced back to him. But Hazel was utterly emotionless, fingering the knife in her hands as though it were a barren twig. He backed away from her watching as she almost sliced one of her hands across the blade. He looked away but not before Hazel had thrown the knife at his feet. The reflection was not his own but a face that had often crept in his dreams more times that he could count in a lifetime.

"Sans."

"SANS! WAKE UP ALREADY!"

Sans gasped himself awake, almost hitting his head against the headboard. He clutched absently at the sheets, breathing deeply as the nightmare ingrained itself in his mind. Bright light streamed through the curtains, letting the morning sun stream onto his face. "morning already?" But his joke was met with worried anger.

"NOT IS NOT THE TIME FOR YOUR JOKES SANS!" Papyrus almost spat, frantically searching underneath the bed for something. "HAZEL IS GONE!" Sans immediately sat up, his eyes almost dim. He looked at the window and paused. It was wide open and the curtains were simply blowing in the breeze. The kid couldn't have, but Papyrus followed his gaze and nodded.

"IT WAS LIKE THAT WHEN I WOKE UP. THE FRONT DOOR WAS LOCKED AS WELL SUGGESTING THAT SHE DIDN'T LEAVE. BUT HER STUFF IS STILL HERE."

"her stuff is still here?" Sans whispered. "did you tell tori?"

"OF COURSE. I TOLD EVERYBODY. TORI HAS SEARCHED THE ENTIRE HOTEL AND THE NEIGHBORING ONE AS WELL. NOBODY HAS SEEN HER. NOT EVEN THE FRONT DESK OR THE SECURITY GUARDS. THE CAMERAS DIDN'T CATCH HER LEAVE EITHER. THINK PAPYRUS, WHERE WOULD SHE BE?" Papyrus paced quickly in the corner, his eyes constantly darting towards the window as if Hazel would crawl through it any moment and everything would be fine again.

"you checked everywhere?" Sans paused hoarsely. He should've watched her to make sure she wouldn't do this again. The kid said they weren't going to leave. Papyrus looked as though he was going to tear out the window as well. He only hoped that it wouldn't be another four-year search. It would be absolutely hopeless above ground.

After the kid had gone missing two years prior, Toriel had sent out a search warrant a few hours after she had disappeared. It was a nightmare. The cops had told them to forget about her and Tori had gone through a tight spot. Sans couldn't blame her. He was kind of hoping that Hazel might stay and keep herself out of trouble. The group eventually let it sink in that she wasn't coming back.

Tori thought that the kid was dead and for a good while, so did everybody else. Sans never thought that the kid would show up again. But when they had encountered her in Wyoming, it was like something out of a horror movie. He and Undyne had talked after they had managed to capture her, and they agreed to keep an eye on her but it was pointless. She was gone.

After an hour of nothing, Undyne had knocked at the door. She was livid. Sweat covered her forehead and her hands were balled into fists. "We've got nothing. Drove around the block for almost half an hour looking but we found nothing. Asked around but nobody has seen her." She let out a frustrated yell and kicked the lamp onto the floor. "We should've kept a closer eye on her!"

"she was bound to escape sooner or later. you know how she is." Sans reasoned, though his permanent smile was more strained than ever. Didn't the kid say that they couldn't just escape through the window? That the fall would be too much? Would they really go through all that trouble to escape? "the kid said that it would be near impossible to leave the city. she's gotta be around here… somewhere."

"Well, where's somewhere? This city is huge, Sans! Urgh! I'm going to strangle that kid when I see her again!" He put his hands up and grimaced.

"let's calm down on the torturing there, pal."

"MAYBE SHE MIGHT COME BACK?' Papyrus instantly proposed but Undyne vetoed him just as quickly.

"i really doubt it paps. if the kid's gone, she's gone. remember those four years of nothing? Let it be."

"Let it be? Toriel is about to have a heart attack downstairs! You want to just let this go?" Undyne fixed the lamp and smoothed the ruffled hair that draped over her gills. "Just let her be." She mocked, growling the words out through her teeth. "I had to duct tape that punk to the seats to keep her from moving! We had to chase her and forcefully shove her in that car, and what? To let her go for nothing? It's been two damn years, Sans!"

"you tell that to the kid."

"Sure, four years of chasing that kid around and she still can't get it through her thick skull that she can't go and play the disappearing act whenever she wants!" Papyrus had raised a hand to argue but Undyne had already left, loudly slamming the door.

A few hours had gone by with no signs of Hazel anywhere. The others were on edge, Papyrus being the worst out of them all. He kept asking around but all anybody ever did was shake their head. He had called the police but like Hazel had stated before, she was off the grid entirely. "Haven't seen them," Most would call over their shoulders, not even bothering to look at the picture. The seven of them didn't even bother to leave the rooms behind for the day and decided that they had a slim chance to none that she could back. A slim chance was better than nothing. All of them, even Frisk, had had a premonition that Hazel would up and leave without saying anything. They just weren't expecting it so soon. So they sat and waited in their rooms.

The day seemed to pass by in a silent blur. The afternoon had slowly progressed to stand still and everybody remained in a haze. They had all did nothing except for plan trips that would disappear in the background. The evening consisted of take-out pizza, awkward and terrible puns, barbed comments from Flowey on the hotel phones, and questionable tv commercials some of which were in Spanish.

Undyne threw her hands down on the makeshift table, spilling the chips everywhere. "You're cheating!" She yelled at Frisk who shrugged and continued to hoard the game pieces, Flowey nibbling on the end of one of them. Toriel, Asgore, and Alphys had gone to reserve a tour at the gardens leaving the rest of them behind to say in the brother's room. It was Sans who suggested the game but he had been violently robbed of his goods by his own flesh and blood, Papyrus. Undyne was getting ready to join him in the loser corner when a loud rattling knock sounded on the door.

"Who is it?" Called Undyne, ready to check the peephole.

"Ya boi." Came a sarcastic grunt from the other side of the door. Undyne almost tore the door open and dragged Hazel inside, propping a chair against the door to keep her from bailing. Papyrus had already closed and locked the window. Sans was in shock. He wasn't expecting her to appear anytime soon thinking that she was already in Mexico by now.

"WHERE HAVE YOU BEEN? WE'VE BEEN LOOKING ALL OVER FOR YOU!" Papyrus shouted angrily causing Hazel to cover her ears and shuffle her paws. Papyrus was easy to anger. Sans peered over his shoulder, his own disbelief and anger simmering. She was dressed in a completely different getup than the ones that Toriel had packed for her.

A long-sleeved shirt and a simple pair of pants. Her hair was messy as usual but somewhat groomed. She didn't seem at all fazed by the commotion and squinted her eyes at them. All Hazel was carrying was a few plastic bags in her arms with a good sum of them being heavy. She still looked messy but compared to how they found her yesterday, she looked better. But that didn't stop him from being absolutely livid.

"I couldn't sleep." Sans wanted nothing more than to wipe that smile off of her face. Did she have any clue how much she had worried them?

"You've been out all night?" Undyne challenged, almost posing like a hungry dragon.

"No. Since the early morning. Before the sun came up. I got hungry." Hazel professed lazily, seating herself near the edge of the window. If she was going to say more, she really didn't express it. Undyne kept her from moving away, keeping her in place with her arms on her shoulders.

"You could have at least left us a note." Undyne growled.

"No thanks. It must have been the early dregs of the morning when I left and even then, the hotel was dead quiet. It was easy enough to leave without anybody noticing me and I didn't want to wake you up."

"hey kid."

"Hmm?"

"where'd you get all that stuff?" Sans asked quietly in a deadly tone. Sans motioned towards the bags that she painstakingly set down on the floor. Hazel grinned and took out a small book. "i thought you were livin' on the edge of society. that's what you told me, right?"

"You forget that that's not all in its entirety. That only for some cities. I still have money. Like rubles, kroner, euros… I think I still have some tens in my pocket." She pulled out a thick wad of cash and set it beside her stuff. "For example, last summer I vacationed in Athens and then I backpacked up to Sweden. Europe is easy to travel through-"

"that's funny. i remember you telling me that you and humans don't mix." Frisk cocked their head, their eyes squinted suspiciously.

"We don't. That doesn't mean that I hate everybody." She reasoned. "But yeah, the only reason that I left this morning was because I was hungry and bored. Make sense?" But Undyne had had enough of it apparently.

"No! It doesn't!" She yelled, violently shaking Hazel to get her to listen. "You can't just wander off and expect us to be cool with it!" The two were almost nose to nose. "This isn't going to be like that damn four-year search back in the Underground! You're not just going to make up some bullshit excuse and disappear!" Sans found himself nodding. She was voicing everything that Toriel had stressed about during that period.

"You can't just expect us to realize you're gone and not do shit about it! This isn't the Underground where there are only so many places you could go. We're above ground now where there are infinite places you could disappear. We're not just going to stop remembering that, hey, you still exist somewhere. Toriel was this close to relapsing this morning and you want to make a joke about it and pass it off as us being too dramatic. I'm warning you kid, and only once. Watch it."

"PLEASE DON'T DO THAT AGAIN." Papyrus added on. Hazel went quiet for a moment, her face blank and her eyes focused on the floor before she had replied as well.

"I'm not making it a joke-"

"yeah, you are," Sans spoke up at last. His gaze hard. "this isn't as funny as you seem to think this is."

"Says the person that forced me to come along on a trip I wanted nothing to do with." Hazel returned his hard stare for a glance that held no sympathies for his worries whatsoever. "Nobody asked any of you to bring me along. I thought I made it pretty clear when I didn't greet you with smiles and handshakes-"

"And nobody asked you to be so infuriatingly hard-headed but here we are!" Undyne roared.

"I am not hard-headed. I have the right to make my own decisions, regardless of who's breathing down my neck at that time. It's not you were certain that I'd pop up there on the road, were you?"

"You're barking up the wrong tree kid. And this time, you're not going anywhere. You're going to stay here and you're going to like it." Undyne backed up a bit before resuming her prowling like a hungry wolf. "So here's how this is going to go down."

"Excuse me-" Hazel butted in but Undyne kept on.

"No, excuse you. You're going to stay with us for the remainder of this road trip and you are going to like it. You are going to put up with us keeping an eye on you and watching your every move. Considering the fact that you seem to disregard that we worry, we'll be stepping it up a notch. Isn't that right Papyrus?" Papyrus nodded, a reassuring grin on his skull.

"And so help me, if we ever pass a hospital or somewhere like that, I will personally pay them to chip you so that you can't just disappear." Hazel sat there dumbfounded, her face expressing extreme anger and frustration before it had vanished in a heartbeat. What replaced it was solemn distaste.

"Fine. But you're not chipping me if you want to keep that other eye. I'll stay but that's no promise that I won't go wandering if I get hungry at night!"


	4. Don't Fear the Reaper

Rain pounded against the thick canopies of the trees, but not pushing through them. Hazel felt a rogue drop splash against her nose, then on her forehead, trickling down her eyelids. She opened her eyes wearily, her body sore and covered in red welts. Soft green moss cushioned her back, even though she felt as though she had just fallen off a high cliff. "Huh?"

She pushed herself upwards, wincing as her tail snagged on a bramble thicket. "Yowch! Talk about a rude awakening." But she didn't smile. She looked upwards seeing nothing but swirling gray storm clouds oozing with cold rain. Thick forests surrounded her at every twist and turn, so thick that the patches of grass could hardly be seen. "Where the heck am I? I don't remember this."

Hazel bunched her legs and sprung up the tree, climbing for at least a few minutes before she had reached the top. Up there, the wind threatened to send her falling back to the forest floor with heavy gusts of cold wind. "Now let's see if I can get some directions." She shielded her eyes, looking upwards for any signs of the sun in the clouds. "Hmm. Nothing. Does the forest end…?" The vast field of jade green spanned on for countless miles, all of it being bombarded with never-ending rain.

"Alright. I can make do with this... somehow." She slid back down the trunk of the tree, her ears pricked as she headed for higher ground. This was doable, and forests were her playgrounds. She had decided to see just how far this place was, moving from two paws to four. Dead patches of grass littered the forest floor and she flew by, her tail streaming behind her. The farther she ran the better it seemed to get. More birds were perched in the trees, more noises of scuffling prey. This wasn't so bad. That was, until she had stopped to catch her breath.

Hazel skidded to a halt beside a shallow stream, her lungs burning and the welts from before more irritated. The rain had decreased slightly and it was getting warmer with every breath. Maybe she was somewhere in the north. Russia maybe? A rotting smell hit her on the roof of her mouth almost instantly causes her to gag. Something was decomposing nearby. But wouldn't she hear scavengers picking at it with bravado? "That's very weird."

As she turned, she came face to face with the suspect. She almost slipped on the wet riverbank behind her as she took a step back. She surely hadn't seen anything like this before. A giant buck, its eyes and antlers missing was impaled high up between two trees. Its entrails had been gathered on the ground, left in the open for anybody to see. Fresh, by the smell of it. Her blood ran colder than the arctic waters.

"Good grief." She whispered under her breath. "Let's think things through. The forest doesn't end and the culprit of this abomination is nearby." She paused and let it sink in. "I'm so totally screwed, aren't I?" But the birdsong and scuffling remained. Perhaps she should just blend in and ignore it? She shook her head. That would just get her killed faster. "Stay away from any gore or houses. Easy peasy." She reassured herself.

Hazel kept on, occasionally glancing over her back. She was the prey now. But if she played her cards right, she could win. She had walked too many miles to count now and her paws were aching. It seemed as though it would never stop raining and the light never stopped shining. She had slipped into a mud-filled trench, the thick goopy water soaking into her fur. "I just love getting soaked in the mud." She grumbled, pulling herself onto the opposite bank.

But before she could pull her tail free, something had yanked her back into the water. Her ankle had clashed with one of the rocks and she swore she had fractured it, hot pain shooting up her leg. She tried to hold her breath and turned to fight whatever had pulled her but there was nothing. The thing had gone. Hazel fought her way back to the surface, taking in a long gulp of air. She tried to exit the trench again but this time, she was pulled back into the trench almost all the way to the bottom.

A sharp stone had almost impaled her in her side causing her to gasp in pain. Dirty water began to fill up her lungs and she coughed in vain. No, she'd keep at it. She struggled to keep from coughing again as she kicked her way towards the surface. Right as one of her paws broke the waves, she had been pulled right back down, this time so forcefully that her tail had caught underneath one of the rocks at the bottom and had slammed against the slimy sand river floor.

She turned, trying to focus as her vision started to swim before her eyes. She wasn't going to drown. Not here, not now. With the remaining strength that she had left, she fought to push the rock off of her tail, freeing it at last. As she turned to at least propel herself upwards she felt her body give up. Her lungs were screaming for oxygen by now and her body didn't listen to anything she wanted it to do. She watched as she sunk farther and farther and farther until…

Hazel woke in a cold sweat, gasping for air. The room was still dark and the traffic outside the window hadn't gotten any quieter. She put a paw to her chest, fighting to calm her nerves as she breathed loudly. "It just had to be about drowning." She muttered under her breath. "At least I wasn't strung up like that buck." She reasoned nervously. But the darkness was starting to make her nervous.

Everybody had gone to sleep. Undyne had placed a magical barrier over the window and doors to keep her from bouncing out. Her stomach rumbled. What was the last thing that she had eaten? "I could really go for a lapwing right now. There's no way in hell I'm going back to sleep again after that." She rolled over on her position on the floor, peering at the clock on the nightstand. Almost four in the morning. Of course.

She got to her paws, irritated and bored. "Why did I agree to stay here?" She asked herself, knowing that a stupid reply would come if she opened her mouth again. She walked over to the window and tried to make out the dark sky above the city. Nothing. "You can't even see the stars. Humans are so weird."

After ten minutes of trying to make out Orion's belt with no success, Hazel found one of the bags from earlier. It was from a bookshop that she had perused earlier yesterday afternoon. It was about two aliens encountering the human race and how their interactions would take place. "This is gonna be fun," She whispered, using one of her paws to light a fire. It would be a tiresome task to man the book with one paw but there was literally nothing else to do that wouldn't wake the two brothers.

Hazel was nose deep in the book. It'd at least been an hour before she had been distracted by a loud thump on the floor. "What the heck was that?"

"you're awake?" Sans groaned groggily from the floor. Hazel put a bookmark in the pages and quietly crept over to inspect the situation. Sans had apparently turned over too much and had fallen off the bed. The only part still on it was his right foot. The whole scene looked quite comical.

"How's the weather down there?"

"great. think you could help me up?"

"Why not?" Hazel righted him before moving back towards her cuddly corner. "Make sure not to turn too much next time." She teased.

"i bet you find that humerus." Hazel squinted her eyes and pinched the bridge of her nose with her paws.

"The door's right there Sans."

"what? my pun ribbin' you, kid?"

"Can you not?"

"no." Sans chuckled lowly. "how long have you been awake?"

"A little over an hour. My circadian rhythm is off."

"your what?"

"Nevermind." She waved it off. "Go back to sleep."

"and miss this morning party? nah."

Hazel cocked an eyebrow. "Alright, suit yourself. Have fun sitting in the dark with nothing to do. I'll be reading my book."

"what's it about?"

"Aliens vs humans. Who's weirder? That's the main point of the book. I'm actually almost done with it."

"huh. so no attempt at escape?"

"Don't tempt me, Sans. I'm already bored enough to try. Not to mention hungry." Hazel's stomach rumbled at the prospect of eating but she covered it with a pillow and continued on with her book.

Three hours had gone by to be eight in the morning. Hazel had burned through two books and was reaching for the third when Papyrus had finally woke up. "GOOD MORNING MONSTER CHILD."

"Morning Papyrus." Hazel yawned.

"YOU HAVEN'T TRIED TO LEAVE?' Hazel shrugged and sat the book down.

"I mean, not unless you want to find me shish kabobed in the doorway. But nah, I've just been sittin' here reading my books. Don't mind me." Hazel watched from the corner of her eyes as Papyrus flitted about the room, his usual smile evident as he made his bed, showered, and redressed.

"SANS, WAKE UP!" Hazel watched amused as Papyrus attempted to wake his brother but without fail, Sans remained asleep.

"I don't think he's gonna get up anytime soon." Hazel commented, stretching as the morning light filtered in through the windows. But Papyrus persisted, going so far as to pull the bedsheets off.

"SANS, WE CANNOT MISS THE OPPORTUNITY OF THE MORNING! UP!" After what seemed like ages, Papyrus sighed before straightening. "HAZEL, CAN YOU GET ME A GLASS OF WATER FROM THE SINK?" His voice sounded innocent but his eyes betrayed what he was going to do. Hazel returned a mischievous smile before dashing into the bathroom. She soon came out with a small toothpaste cup filled to the brim with icy cold water.

"Do it." Hazel dared, taking refuge from behind Papyrus's bed. "On the count of three. One. Two. Three!" As soon as the water hit bone the room became chaos. Sans's yelp as he flew upwards was something that Hazel would cackle about for days. Even Papyrus was giggling in the corner, his authoritative tone failing.

"SANS! WE *SNORT* WE CANNOT MISS OUR *GIGGLE* -THE MORNING!" His voice faltered on the last word and he had to grasp for his knees to keep from yelling. Little beknownst to the both of them, Papyrus had set his phone to record the aftermath. "WE *CACKLE* -WE NEED YOU TO- TO GET UP! YES! GET *CHUCKLE* WE NEED- CAN YOU JUST,"

"Don't hurt yourself Papyrus. You might break your funny bone!" Hazel quipped. The room went dead quiet. And then Papyrus whipped his head around and screamed at the top of his lungs. "I TAKE IT BACK! YOU'RE BANISHED FROM THIS ROOM! OUT!" That got Sans laughing it off.

"ah, come on paps. don't you think you-"

"DON'T YOU DARE!"

"you think you could take-" Sans wheezed, his face buried in the sheets.

"I WILL END YOU IF YOU FINISH THAT SENTENCE!"

"-could hear a femur?"

"NYAAAAAAH!" There goes the nightstand to join the toothbrushes in the bathroom. Papyrus bent to do the same to the lamp before a prompt knock sounded at the door.

"Get the doot." Hazel laughed.

"the doot?" Sans cackled.

"Yeah, get the doot, Papyroot."

"THIS ISN'T OVER!" Papyrus declared with a small chuckle, marching over to the door. "WE RESUME! IT'S JUST UNDYNE!"

"resume?" Sans had gotten off of his bed, unaware of Papyrus's sudden movement towards his rear.

"NYEH!" With one sudden jerk, Papyrus had swept the light mattress off of its boxspring and held it like a javelin. Sans was completely caught off guard as he was swatted with one of the corners.

"no! my hip!"

"It's a free for all!" Hazel grabbed two of the pillows from the bed and went down swinging, one of the pillows catching Papyrus straight in the jaw. Undyne could only try to wrestle the mattress from the pillow fight tyrant and things were utterly destroyed. Sans, on the other hand, remained locked up in the bathroom, watching the carnage take place.

Undyne had been throw off balance and flopped to the floor. Papyrus was practically pummeling her with the mattress which left his rear open for attack. "Time to tip the scales!" Hazel slyly slid around the two tumbling foes and sent a solid swipe at Papyrus's calves. "Hyah!"

"WHA-" Hazel watched in apparent glory as Papyrus fell, his mattress thumping to the floor. Before he could move, she and Undyne tag-teamed him so that he was buried under the mountain of pillows and blankets.

"Do you surrender?" Undyne laughed along, holding Papyrus down with her own pillow.

"NEVER! I HAVE HONOR!" Undyne cracked a wicked grin and turned to face Hazel.

"Hazel, go find Sans."

"you stay away from me." Sans almost yelled, curling in on himself.

"I can pick the lock!" She had never seen somebody move so fast. Sans had abandoned ship, moving nimbly around the battlefield as he scrambled for the door. Hazel made to pursue him but a muscular arm held her back.

"Hazel, no!" Five spears, thick and long enough to block the door sprang up through the floor, almost a whisker from impaling her arm. Undyne pulled her back, wheezing on the ground. "That was close! I should've taken down those spears before I charged in, huh?"

"I swore, I saw the light at the end of the tunnel." Hazel joked, rolling over to sprawl onto the unoccupied part of the floor. "Did he really just bail?"

"I BELIEVE SO." Papyrus panted, pushing Undyne off of him with ease. "NO MORE SHENANIGANS! HAZEL, GET READY."

"Ready? Ready for what?" She cocked her head, dusting her clothes off. Undyne had flopped onto the remaining bed, all of her fight forgotten. Papyrus began to put everything back to the way they were before.

"Toriel suggested that we go to breakfast today." Undyne replied for him, beginning to help on the quest to improve the battlefield for the next siege. "We're all going. It's a pancake house."

"A pancake? Man, it's been a while since I've had anything relating human food." Hazel grimaced. She wasn't so sure that her stomach could handle anything but fresh kill at the moment.

"Remember orange juice?" Undyne goaded her. "You used to hoard that stuff in your house back when you lived in the Underground!"

"Aw man. You're making me really hungry."

"What do you even eat, miss 'i live on the edge of society'?" Undyne mocked in a playful tone. Hazel shrugged and picked at a split nail.

"Stuff."

"What kind of stuff?"

"The souls of the innocent." Right as she had said that, Sans had returned with the others, all of them ready to go.

"What was that about souls?" Flowey murmured somewhere from the back of the group. Sans hung back, his eyes suspicious and accusing. Hazel involuntarily reached for the corner of the nearest pillow.

"Oi! You're back!" She snatched the closest pillow off the bed and sprung to her paws. "Ready for round two?"

"nO." And he was gone, just like that. Toriel raised an eyebrow.

"All of you who are dressed, pack the car." Asgore, Alphys, Frisk and Flowey disappeared leaving a stern Toriel towering in the doorway. Papyrus passed between quickly leaving the two of them alone. "We're going to have to do something about that hair of yours."

"My hair is fine." Hazel mumbled. Toriel gently led her by the arm into the bathroom.

"Let me see… where's the brush?"

"I don't think they have a brush Toriel. They're skeletons." Hazel replied cheekily.

"No matter! Here." Toriel had picked through the pack that she had left the other day, finding the clothes that she had packed specifically for sHazel. "Change into these." Toriel departed momentarily but Hazel knew that she was just waiting on the other side of the door. The sweater was a bit scratchy but it was okay. Both of the sweats were just fine.

"Alright, I'm done." Toriel looked her up and down before nodding half-heartedly.

"We'll go by my room and find a hairbrush before we go."

"Is it really that bad?"

"Yes." The two of them had turned the lights off and locked the door behind them, making their way towards the elevator.

"Doesn't this place have stairs?"

"They do, but the elevator is faster dear. Nothing to be afraid of."

"Sure, and the thing might plummet to the ground but we're all okay." She muttered under breath. After a trip down to Toriel's room and a nice chunk of hair had been taken from her scalp, the two had finally gotten to the car. The elderly goat had brushed her hair into a thick bun that was neat and tidy. Nothing like how her usual fluffy mane was. She felt violated beyond compare.

"Nice do." Flowey commented from the backseat as Undyne and Sans made room for her. The latter looked at her warily but said nothing, the same lazy grin plopped onto his face.

"Yeah, I bet." Hazel replied. "We're going to some garden afterward right? Do you think they sell fertilizer in the shops?"

"They should." Asgore replied from his position in the driver seat. He had shifted the car into drive and slowly backed out of his parking space, rolling slowly onto the road. "Why do you ask?"

"I was thinking to buy Flowey a snack as a souvenir."

"Bite me." Came Flowey's response, a loud hissing noise echoing in the car.

"Maybe later."

"My child!"

Hazel unstrapped herself from the car, patting her stomach with her paws. The pancakes had been delectable but her stomach didn't agree with her. She had been right; it would take a while for her to adjust to society. The eight of them piled out of the car at the entrance to the botanical gardens. She could smell hints of jasmine, chamomile, and was that yew she traced in the air? This was gonna be good.

The person who had received them led them down a cool corridor. "Down here is our modern atrium. Here, we grow flowers such as orchids and daisies." Where was the sage and mint? You call this an atrium? Hazel followed along at the back, almost as though she wasn't included in the loud talk amongst the group. She had spotted marigold some ways back but the plant was dying. Everything was dying in here. No wonder, thought Hazel swatting a fly out of her ear fur. This place was thick with flies and handsy people.

"Does anybody know what this plant is?" The tour lady had pointed to a large leafy plant with glossy dark leaves that shed the moisture easily. There was no mistake recognizing that plant from its smell. While the others were dry-mouthed, Hazel quietly muttered the answer underneath her breath.

"It's dock." The tour lady seemed to have supersonic hearing because her face immediately brightened.

"What did you say?"

"I said, that plant is dock." Hazel shuffled her paws, not quite comfortable with being put on the spot. The lady nodded.

"Huh. Almost all of our visitors never guess the answer. You're a smart cookie!" She was a what? The lady led on towards a more secluded part of the garden. "Now this is the poison garden. All of the dangerous plants lie in there." Now we're talking! Hazel almost bounced with excitement as the lady unlocked the gates. "Look but don't touch!" As soon as the others were out of earshot, Hazel wandered over to a clump of purple flowers, the tart scent hitting the roof of her mouth. She smiled in recognition.

"Deadly nightshade! And over there is yew!" She went from plant to plant, coming to an old enemy of hers. "They have a manchineel tree in here? Good god. How do they even take care of it?" Many familiars came up as she bounced by. Hemlock, holly berries, poison ivy, bittersweet, and even lily of the valley. "Maybe this isn't such a bad garden after all." She had just padded over to gaze lovingly at a patch of tansy when a hand clapped down on her shoulder.

'heya kid."

"Sans, I will personally rip you apart if you do that again." She raised an eyebrow as Sans shuddered. "I thought skeletons couldn't get cold?"

"i'm not. frisk noticed that you had disappeared."

"Uh huh. Don't mind me. I'm just enjoying this garden tour."

"enjoying all of these poisonous plants?"

"yES."

"so…" Sans pointed his hand to small white-flowered bush a few paces away. "what's that one?"

"That's water hemlock! The liquid inside the stems causes convulsions, asphyxiation and sometimes cardiac collapse, which is why it's so deadly." She pointed her paw to the plant beside it. "Right next to that is one of my favorites, deadly nightshade. I didn't think they had it in here." She paused, realizing that her fangirling over deadly herbs was probably not the right things to bring up. Okay, maybe definitely.

"something you're not telling me?"

"I don't know what you're talking about Sans. You jokester. Let's just catch up with the others again before I end up finding the faassenii."

"excuse me?"

"Uh, nothing. Don't worry about it." Hazel pushed it off and padded back towards the ground, sans following a few steps behind.

"so what's that plant over there?" He pointed to a small clump of yellow flowers many lengths away.

"Oh, that's just tansy. It's only poisonous in large amounts. Maybe more than five flowers?"

"how do you even know this stuff, kid?"

"Sans, I live in the wild. It's only natural that I learned this stuff ages ago."

"you never mentioned this before we got here."

"I didn't think they would have any of this stuff."

"remind me to ask you about this later."

"Eh. We'll see about that."


	5. Relapse On My Count

The packed car tore along the empty cracked roads that led between the state borders that were leading through the empty golden plains. The sturdy rubber wheels threw up huge clouds of dust as it weaved among cliffs and even empty valleys. Hazel sat tucked tight next to Flowey in the backseat, saying nothing while looking out of the window absently. Only days prior had she been roaming these plains, not a care in the world. Now she was packed tight into an airless metal box going faster than logically possible.

Ever since the tour in the botanical garden, she found herself feeling detached and often emotionless. She missed the fresh breeze in her fur and the taste of fresh-kill. She pined to see the trail of stars at night or the northern lights dancing in the midnight sun sky. She longed to watch the morning sky turn a rosy pink as warmth bathed her fur or watch as the birds chirped their last melodic songs as the sun turned the sky a startling shade of crimson. All that had been overseen being caged in that hotel.

She always felt hungry or tired, and grew desperate for the fresh water from a creek or the tantalizing scents of a pigeon. Low, but she couldn't help it. She had burned through all of her books and had been talked to death until she had to cover her ears with her hair. She grew frustrated of being tailed and followed and pressured around every corner, seldom urging herself to look somewhere else but out the window. But the waving grass called to her reminding her of the pheasant she had devoured five sunrises ago.

She had reached her limit with Toriel trying to straighten her hair or Sans questioning every bit of her quirks. Of Flowey's barbed comments and of Undyne barging in yelling all the time. She was jerked out of her self-pity party as a hand shook her.

"Hey, kid! Look!" Undyne beckoned her towards an abandoned gas station in the middle of the field, looking almost abnormal with its empty surroundings and dry gas pumps.

"What about it?" Hazel grumbled, resting her cheek on her palm.

"This is where we found you, remember?" Hazel snorted smartly before replying. She could just barely make out the bloody paw prints that curved sharply into the dead grass: her own.

"Right, I almost forgot. We're in Wyoming?"

"Yeah- what was that, Papyrus?" The previous conversation had been thrown out the window with a simple turn of the cheek.

Hazel breathed a sigh of relief, going back to zoning out. She was up to her neck in unsolicited conversations and had made every small talk starter there was just to not be haggled about being quiet. What was her goal originally? Washington? What was the point? She slumped against the solid side of the car, the sunlight slowly giving her a headache. Why had she come back to the states again? She was starting to wish that she had just turned tail back on that farm in Kansas.

"What's wrong with you?" Flowey commented. Hazel sneered. He was probably getting plenty from all of this sunshine. He didn't need to care about anything but himself. But she shook her head. That's mean. He doesn't even have a body. Pull yourself together.

"Nothing," She replied with disinterest. "Just watching the plains roll by." If she were being honest, there was suddenly no appeal to do anything at the moment. Traveling through Idaho now seemed like a chore and there'd be no way to get away from her friends without making a scene. She was trapped but she didn't care.

"-more news about the school shooting in Middlebury. Twenty killed and over one hundred injured. We go to Mable for more info on the topic. Mable?"

"That's right. A young man that was formerly expelled from Winston High School opened fire on students and staff on the early morning of June 5th at the school, merely a few minutes after the last bell for the year had rung. Five teachers dead along with fifteen students dead at the scene and many more in critical condition. The suspect, a young man aged seventeen was caught on tape opening fire near the school entrance…" They were getting younger and younger as the years passed by, Hazel thought to herself.

Twenty dead and many more suffering and yet the government did nothing about it. She listened blankly as Toriel reached for the dial. "That's so terrible!" Toriel exclaimed. Hazel couldn't look at the others, knowing that her emotionless face would betray her. Hadn't she tried to warn them that everything wasn't exactly great up here on the surface? "How could somebody do something that horrible?"

She drifted back to a day when she was six, being led up a stony mountain trail by her father. The wind screamed as it worked to push her tiny frame off the steep cliffs and the cold gales settled in her fur, threatening to turn her into an ice statue. "Hold onto me!" Her father shouted, taking her by the paw. She didn't know where her dad had brought her, only that this was supposed to be the hideout for a week or two. This was nothing new. Mountain goats were stringy but it was all that kept that going for at least a few days.

"Are we almost there yet?" She cried, her eyes watering. Snow sprayed into her face bringing with it the scent of fire and burning flesh. "What's that?" The two of them had pressed themselves down against the cracked dirt of the trail, their mud-smeared pelts blending in as Hazel's father signaled for her to keep next to him and to keep absolutely still and silent. They pressed up against sharp rocks, watching as a loaded caravan slowly rolled past. The driver jabbered something to himself in a language that Hazel had only heard once, spoken angrily by her mother.

"Come on." The two of them waited until the coast was clear before scrambling towards the direction of the fire. The smell grew stronger as they rounded the curve around the mountaintop. Her dad kept her back with his tail but she peered through the long black fur.

At the base of the mountain, a large group of straw and mud huts sat protected in the shadow of a greater hill. Almost all of them were now burning, desperate screams ringing in the air. Gunshots rang out loudly, trembling in her ear fur as she dug her claws into the ground. Her father made no attempt to move, his yellow eyes slits as he watched on. What was it? It had to be something bad.

There was a huge group at the edge of the town, a large line stretched as thin as a bowstring standing, shivering, and crying. Then came the sight of a large pit hidden partially by a small sandy hill, and within it the decaying bodies of hundreds of slaughtered people. A baby flew through the air before being silenced by a gunshot right through its ribs. A woman howled so loud that it made her ears hurt. The woman was then sent to join her dead child, as a sword sliced right through her neck. The head was tossed into the fire. Hazel's dad translated it for her. Made her understand what was happening.

People were being called up in random groups. Women were taken to the side and raped viciously, in the plain sight of everybody else. They were beaten before being shot to death or decapitated and tossed into the mass grave with the others. Their sightless eyes stared at the sky, glossed over in grief, horror, and pain. Hazel watched as the children were beaten and their bones were broken. And finally, they were put together with the men to kneel. She had shut her eyes the first time, but now she had been forced to watch as the whole line was decapitated. Anybody who protested was shot immediately.

It was all methodical. Strategically planned. The grave had been filled with everybody in the village before it had been set on fire. The fire burned for a whole week. She could smell it the air whenever she woke and the smell lingered in her fur days after they had left the area. Genocide, her dad had called it. That word lay ingrained in her head. Genocide.

She thought of another new word that she had learned a few weeks later: cruelty. A frosty morning skimming through the crowded woods of a small forest near northern Europe. She hunted alone this time. Her resolve that morning had been to find and bring back the fattest deer she could find. Her mother had caught a stomach bug from an infected hen of the town that required the three of them to remain in the area before they could relocate. A good remedy to help make her feel better involved the tender flesh of a deer's flank. Thankfully, they just happened to be in season.

Hazel slipped between the trees, careful not to step on any twigs or land in any deep snow. If she was to find a deer, she had to behave like one. She was careful not to let her tail sweep along the forest floor, recounting with bitterness how many times that rookie mistake had ruined a good hunt.

She rounded a bend near a river, pausing to find the familiar stepping stones that she had gathered water near. She jumped onto the first, not seeing the extra one that had appeared. There had been a flood earlier that season. Easily explainable. Wait. Was that even a rock? She snatched up the strange bag with her claws and landed on the other side of the bank. It wasn't a rock.

It was a burlap bag, sealed loosely at the top. Something jagged laid at the bottom which held it under the swift current. What was inside? Hazel undid the loose knot and held it upside down. Three mangled kitten corpses fell out along with several bigger rocks. She clenched her teeth. Somebody had drowned these kittens. She abandoned the bag, picking up the broken bodies with her grip softer than silk. They were so cold…

Not even a week old, their bodies bruised and broken. They had been drowned in that bag days prior. How had she not heard it? She buried the three in a flourishing glade as far from the river as possible, spreading sage and catmint over the rocks she had used to mark their graves. What type of sick bastard would do something like this to a baby? She snarled and continued her hunt, fuelled more by rage than care for her mother.

She had caught the culprit a few days later, perched on the riverbank. A big bag squirmed beside the woman, and the clearing rang with the cries of what sounded like… a child? The woman cooed something absently, picking the bag up with feigned gentleness. And with a quiet push, submerged the child under the water and held it there. Hazel lunged from the undergrowth, sinking her teeth into the woman's neck and flung her against the tip of a sharp rock. A loud crack sounded like a whip in the air. Hazel splashed into the river and swam hard, her teeth catching the edge of the bag before it could hurtle downstream.

She dragged it back to the shore, ripping the bag apart carefully with her claws. A small human child tumbled out, their skin as white as snow, as colder than the river water. Their mouth had been sewn shut hastily with embroidery floss and a dirty needle. The entire face looked swollen and infected. Even before she moved to resuscitate the baby, it had already gone. Too much water in the lungs with no way to cough it out.

Hazel was livid with cold fury. The woman still lay on her back, paralyzed from the blow to her spine. Hazel dragged her to the river's edge and held her head under, watching with cold eyes as she struggled to spit out the water. But she kept a firm paw on the woman's chest and watched as the life slowly drained out of her. An eye for an eye. She left the woman bobbing in the river and watched it float away before picking up the dead child. She had buried it next to the dead kittens.

Another few execution points gained.

"earth to Hazel?" Sans snapped his fingers in front of the kid's face, Hazel blinking as the radiating sunshine of the barren plains struck her right in the eyes.

"I hear you loud and clear, over." Hazel groaned. Her headache hadn't gone away; only increased. What she wouldn't do for some poppy seeds right now. "Are we in Cheyenne yet?"

"Toriel says its another two hours out." Undyne replied. It was just the three of them in a stationary car. Hazel groaned, covering her eyes with her paws. The seats were covered in crumbs and sweat and the entire interior smelled like a wet poodle.

"Alright, wake me up when we get there." Hazel reclined in the seats. "Wait, where is everybody else?"

"We stopped at another gas station along the way. The others got hungry." Undyne muttered. She seemed to be focused on something else. "Mind explaining something to us punk?"

"Sure, I guess?" She sat up and yawned, revealing rows of sharp white teeth. "What's on your mind?"

"you're almost at twenty." Sans murmured quietly. For the first time in what seemed like forever, he wasn't smiling. He was actually frowning. Undyne grimaced as though she wanted to add on something but she had held her tongue.

"Yeah," Hazel spoke after a while. "Let me guess. The two of you checked my soul while I slept, didn't you?"

"correct. but was it the same reason as last time?" Sans challenged her. Hazel thought about it. True, she had gained more execution points since she had left but that didn't mean that she murdered people for the fun of it.

"Eh. Not really." She began. "Why don't you take a few educated guesses?"

"Educated guesses my ass! Did you murder somebody or not?"

"Bite or flight, what are you gonna' do?" Hazel made a small joke before shrugging. "Murder is a strong word. Be more specific than that."

"So you did murder somebody-"

"People. Not a person. Don't act like this isn't your first time interrogating me, Undyne. I don't like to beat around the bush. You ask me an honest question and I'll give you an honest answer. How's about it?" Hazel winked.

"I don't know how you can make a joke at a time like this! You're just as bad as Sans when I was evacuating everybody out of Snowdin!" Sans stopped to look personally offended at her comment. "Back to the point! Why?"

"Didn't you hear me? Self-defense." Hazel chided. "What was I supposed to do when I'm being followed by five bloodhounds? Sit there and let them rip me apart? That's your kink, not mine." Hazel jeered.

"I'm starting to think that you don't care that much about murdering people. Any person with good morals would think you killed for fun."

"Last time I checked, you're in no place or position to determine the values of my morals. This is more like a case of Russian Yeti: The Killer Lives. Those people thought I was responsible for the multiple cattle mutilations around the area which I was not even aware of at the time." Hazel hissed. "If I wanted to, I could've taken revenge and slaughtered them. But I didn't. I could've walled them up like rats using the multiple flooded rivers and landslides around the area and watch them fall. But I didn't. I could've set the entire the town on fire. But again, I didn't."

"wall them up like rats?" Sans choked. Hazel was surprised. She was sure the yeti nod would've caught him.

"Let me ask you two a question. From the setting I just gave you, how many people did you think I killed in the incident?"

"five?"

"More than ten!" Undyne roared.

"You guys honestly think I'm a heartless serial killer? I see where I stand, but you're both wrong. Two. Two people died in the incident, and only one of them was on purpose. The first was caught trying to chase me across the river, got swept up in the torrent, and split their skull against the rocks. The other being the one responsible for the cattle murders; that was the guy I killed on purpose. Once he was gone, the mutilations stopped and I went on my merry way. So much for me being the zodiac killer."

"That's it." Undyne declared. "You. Me. When we get to Cheyenne, I'm gonna find an empty stretch of land and we're going to duke it out. You and me, one on one, until the last person standing wins."

"Is that a death threat?" Undyne shook her head.

"You were talking about how you spared them, right? I can only remember one time that I was there to witness you almost kill somebody. Frisk and Papyrus, remember? Back when you were on the move. Was that self-defense?"

"Well to be fair, you did trap me against the wall before trying to impale me with thousands of spears. But if you want to fight, I'll try and get into it."

"Then it's settled!" Undyne exclaimed.

"Just try not to brutally murder me like how you did last time in Snowdin." Hazel commented, her eyes trained back out of the window. "Alleged serial killer vs the former head of the royal guard. It's a catchy title."

The others had filed into the car after ten more minutes of waiting and after two more hours of driving, they had finally arrived in Cheyenne. They had bedded down at a lavish hotel near the downtown area. At least there wasn't that much light pollution, thought Hazel carrying the others' stuff through the doors. Once Toriel had organized the keys, she held them up as a group. "There are different groups this time! Asgore, Flowey and I will be in one group. Undyne and Alphys in the next. And Frisk will be joining Sans, Papyrus, and Hazel. I made sure that everybody would have a bed this time around." She shot Hazel a knowing glance.

Thankfully, the building was large but it only had three floors. Hazel's group was on the second floor. Their room was somewhat better than the last hotel they had stayed at. The beds were bigger, there were more side lamps, the bathroom actually had a separate room for the shower, and there was a tiny mini bar off to the side. "I call dibs on the bed next to the window!" Hazel made sure to be the first in the room, finding her bed of choice.

"THEN I WANT THE BED NEXT TO YOURS!"

"but frisk wants that one." Papyrus sighed sadly but nodded at last, opting for the bed closest to the door.

"Gee, don't I feel popular."

The group had settled their stuff in against Toriel's warning. "We'll only be staying here for tonight. Tomorrow we go to Yellowstone and then we go home." Where did they even live? Probably somewhere near . Hazel tapped her paws together, she was starting to go stir crazy sitting around all day. She had to get out and do something.

"Do you guys mind if I take a walk around the block or something?"

"YOU CANNOT LEAVE THE ROOM, HAZEL." Papyrus corrected her from his place setting up his bed.

"Please? Just one block?"

"you plan on going by yourself?" Sans commented. Hazel nodded, her paws itching to be free.

"Just one block. I'll be back before you know it. I'm not going to try anything I swear. I'm just getting tired of being cooped up." Sans eyed her for a second before picking up his phone. "Seriously? Nevermind, I'll just sit here and be bored."

Frisk rummaged around the room, a small paper bag in their hands. The kid had gotten older. Still mute, of course. They were almost a foot taller than before and their head came up to Hazel's shoulders. Weren't they almost eleven years old? Frisk found a small yellow bag lying by the door, unzipping the side pockets to pull out a long cardboard box.

"mhmm. uh, sure. no, that's fine. alright. bye." Sans hung up his phone. "alright kid. tori says she'll let you take the walk but she has to go with you."

"Thanks but no thanks. I've already changed my mind." Hazel groaned. Couldn't she just do one thing by herself? Turns out, Frisk had brought along a bunch of board games. "Clue? What is this, a detective game or something?"

"IT'S REALLY SIMPLE! JUST ATTACH THE CARD TO YOUR HEADBAND WITHOUT LOOKING AT IT. YOU WILL TRY TO GUESS WHAT YOUR CARDS SAY BECAUSE WE WILL GIVE YOU HINTS! THREE CLUES IS THE LIMIT. IF YOU GUESS YOUR CARD CORRECTLY, YOU'RE ONE OF THE WINNERS. THE LAST ONE STANDING WINS."

"Oh, okay." Frisk dealt the cards before sliding one to each with them all facing down. Once everybody had clicked their cards into their headbands, the game had begun. This was going to be a fun game, looking at Frisk's card. Sans was up first.

"give me a clue." Sans laughed. "the pun was definitely intentional."

"JUST BECAUSE OF THAT, I'M GOING TO GIVE THE VAGUEST CLUES POSSIBLE!" Papyrus cringed. "POINTY."

"pointy?" Frisk signed something across the table. "fish? pointy fish? i dunno, a shark?"

"It's more literal than that Sans." Hazel smiled. "Pointy like a sword." If he didn't get her clue he was the dimmest person on the planet.

"uh. i still don't know. pass."

"THE WORD WAS SWORDFISH. SANS IS OUT OF THE GAME! FRISK'S TURN IS NEXT."

"Oh ho ho. Frisk, you better get this right or I will be severely disappointed in you." Hazel winked. Frisk's card was a cat. Papyrus immediately started pointing at her. Frisk cocked their head. They signed something at Papyrus.

"NO, TRY AGAIN."

"Wait, what did they say?"

"monster." Sans chimed in.

"Real specific Frisk. Alright, what do I look like? Animal-wise?" Frisk signed something slowly. Papyrus nodded.

"YOU ARE RIGHT. YOUR CARD SAYS CAT. FRISK REMAINS! MY TURN!"

"That's quite the card you've got there, Papyrus." Hazel flashed a sly grin. It was a picture of a bone. "What are you made of?"

"AWESOMENESS." Hazel snorted. "WHAT? AM I NOT?'

"Frisk, please help." Frisk smiled and signed something quickly across the table.

"I DON'T UNDERSTAND. WHAT DOES MILK HAVE TO DO WITH ANY OF THIS?"

"You need calcium for strong blank," Hazel announced. "Fill in the blank, Papyrus. You can do it."

"WOWEE. LET'S SEE. CALCIUM FOR STRONG BONES?"

"Your word was bone. You win. My turn now." Hazel propped herself up on her elbow. "Give me all of your clues at once. I'm feeling pretty confident."

"LET'S SEE. I'M QUITE FOND OF THIS PARTICULAR FOOD ITEM-"

"It's spaghetti, isn't it?" Sans looked dumbfounded but nodded, impressed. Hazel cackled. "Of course, and here and I thought you were looking at my forehead because I had the worst card. Next round-"

Undyne had suddenly burst into the room, a shit-eating grin on her face. "Toriel says that she's touring the city today and she wants everybody dressed. Now. Except for me and you, punk!" She pointed a taloned finger at Hazel who was just about to switch her spaghetti card for a wiener card. "It's fightin' time!"

"FIGHT? I DID NOT KNOW THERE WAS GOING TO BE A FIGHT."

"Hurry up and get dressed! I already know the location." Undyne fled leaving the door wide open.

"I am so screwed. But oh well, I'll it like a champion." Frisk had suddenly pulled on the edge of Hazel's sweater.

"the kid wants to come."

"And watch me get pulverized? Wow, I'm touched."

The group had elected to spare up to one hour for the fight. It was more like a magical duel but it felt more like a death sentence as Hazel trudged lazily behind the group. The location was planned to be out in a dusty field east of Cheyenne. Nobody lived out here. Undyne was right. If they were going to destroy something it'd better be out here where nobody could see them. Dark gray clouds gathered above.

Papyrus announced the start of the fight and almost as soon as the words flew from his jaws, Hazel was on the defense. For every step that Undyne took towards her she stepped back. She needed to be on her toes at all times. The last time she had fought with Undyne had been when her body was ripped to shreds on those spears of hers. "What are you? A ballerina? I thought we were having a showdown!" Undyne jeered.

Hazel dodged to the left as a spear flew upwards from the ground. "I don't even know what that is!" She shouted back. They began to circle each other. "Look, I don't want to fight you but I'm guessing that not attacking isn't going to help. Here goes nothing."

The circle drew so tight that Hazel could practically reach across and swat Undyne in the face. She instead, she ducked back, trapping Undyne inside the circle with a thick wall of fire. "You'll never take me alive, copper!" Undyne had broken free, cutting off Hazel's escape with a wall of spears. She raised a spear in her fist, eyes flashing dangerously. Before it was out of her hand, Hazel ducked low and rerouted her direction. She quickly passed underneath Undyne's outstretched legs and walled her in again from the rear.

Before Undyne could turn, Hazel manipulated the fire so that it produced harmless smoke. The battlefield was covered so thickly that Papyrus couldn't tell who was where. "You can't pull that card on me this time!" Came a roar from the clouds. Hazel had only a split second to react, melting the ground beneath her to make a boosting pillar as the entire battlefield became barbed with spears. They had only missed her by a hair.

"You might want to check that again, Undyne!" From Undyne's last call, Hazel could now pinpoint where she was in the mess. The spears had weakened and shattered leaving Hazel able to hunt down her opponent with ease. She ducked low to the ground, and after she had spotted one of Undyne's boots moving in the opposite direction, she sprang.

It was actually quite hard to unbalance Undyne but it was satisfying to watch her tumble like a domino. What wasn't fun was watching her roll right back up again. Hazel was flung back a few paces, Undyne taking those few precious moments to make her strategic move. Hazel had to fling herself to the side to avoid the wall of spears that were coming her way. Duck left, move your leg- jump! There was no pattern to this frenzy of spears.

But Hazel had found a gap in Undyne's method. She was standing in one spot, keeping a moat between her and her attacker. This was a risk she could take. After she had found her breath from the last attack, she risked a hit from an incoming spear to the tail as she rose her arms and clapped her hands loudly. Bright sparks of electricity bounced between her paws for one split second before the attack had been cast.

Before Undyne could move, a large bolt of lightning struck down on top of her. A dizzying golden light filled the clearing and banished the smoke leaving Hazel exposed like a deer in the headlights. But her respite was short-lived as Undyne charged at her again, double spears wielded. Hazel could see that her attack had managed a good chunk of HP from her opponent but she was nowhere near yellow. "That was a new move! Keep it up!"

The fight became a coordinated dance of sorts, Hazel switching from one tactic to another over and over again. The first tactic was simple. She would do nothing but dodge for a single turn, charging up enough magic for the next move. Of course, Undyne had worked her way through these steps before and also had her own tactics. If Hazel was stationary for too long, a wreath of double-headed spears would trap her in the spot and unless she broke them all in one go, she would find herself impaled on the center one.

After rolling under a seething miasma of leftover neon green spikes, Hazel used another smokescreen trump card. She needed to catch her breath. No, what she needed was to end the battle quickly. She knew what she had to do, but could she manage the magic needed to finish it once and for all? She wasn't feeling too confident, again using her stealth to trap Undyne within another circle of fire. Their HP matched, both of them dangerously low in the red zone. Their attacks were getting slower and more miscalculated. The last attack that Hazel had used wasn't even a foot near Undyne. She clasped her hands together and turned up the heat, hoping to the heavenly powers that it would be enough to give her some time to catch her breath.

But she had been trapped in as well. Thirteen spears had her locked up tight, her paw reaching through the gate as if about to end it. Undyne stood her ground, her own arm reaching above her as well. They had used the same tactic at the same time.

"It's a stalemate." Hazel croaked under her breath.

"You ready to end this, punk?" Undyne gasped, a bead of sweat dripping from her gills. This would be the last turn of the fight. Hazel blinked and finally, she snapped her fingers. What came next was the indescribable pain. The fourteenth spear underneath her feet sprung forward and ripped right through her, right towards her soul. She could just barely hear the flame wall contract and explode a few feet away but all the strength and energy had been ripped from her body. Her knees buckled and she fell to her feet.

All was quiet. The smokescreen was thinning quickly as the seconds went by. It was broken by the victorious battle cry of Undyne as she slowly struggled to her feet. Hazel couldn't move, feeling as though she now had the task of pulling the double-headed spear out of her chest. There was nothing left to fight with. She had used up all of her magic.

"Is Hazel alright? Hazel?" Came Toriel's worried cry. Hazel made what sounded like a dying horse's whinny, lying defeated on the turned earth.

"I'm okay." She wheezed. She slowly got to her feet, swaying on the spot. This battle was solely magic. Her wounds were not shown on the outside but felt fiercely on the inside. The smoke had cleared. Undyne and Hazel met at the center of the battlefield. Both looked utterly thrashed and scratched and flayed. Undyne had multiple burn wounds covering her body. A portion of her hands looked black and Hazel could smell burning flesh. "Did you win?" Hazel croaked.

"I have no idea." She had a feeling that her own body was covered in welts, deep cuts, and nicks. Something warm dripped down from her ear.

"Truce?"

"Truce. For now, at least." And they shook hands.


	6. Two Years' Past

"This is the place to be." Cheered Hazel gleefully, padding by herself around a busy shop corner, the glass windows hiding sweets and candles behind their thick walls. Adults and children passed by in small groups, a few humans eyeing her curiously. "It's nearly impossible to find me in here!" Toriel had decided to take the group shopping at a nearby mall for souvenirs. She skirted around an electronic store coming face to face with the place that she had been looking for since she had walked through those front doors; the holy grail of sustenance. The one and only, the food court. "I am about to stuff my face with no regrets."

She skipped over towards a busy stall, taking a place beyond the already long line. "Might as well familiarize myself with some human food while I'm here. I hope these places at least sell meat." The sign read that is was original chinese food. Whatever it was, it smelled great. She paid for a giant bowl of the chicken and tucked herself near the front just in case the group had come looking for her.

She had managed to give them the slip after slyly telling Sans that she would be lazing around in the food court. And here she was living up to her words. "I gotta admit, human food is amazing." There were so many other things she wanted to try but she didn't want to overload her stomach. She polished off the bowl and got a refill on her drink. Humans may be gigantic slobs but they at least had the knack for stuffing their faces.

"I wonder if the others have noticed that I'm gone yet." She mumbled under her breath. She wasn't used to this much alone time. She had counted the minutes, totaling them up to twenty. "I'm pretty sure they've noticed by now." Hazel got to her paws. "Oh well, they must be off doing something else." Hazel soon found herself getting lost in the massive groups of window shoppers, a few things catching her eye.

"Do I need it?" She murmured, inspecting a chocolate cake that was on display. The top was glazed twice with vanilla and chocolate frosting. An extra layer of peanuts and whipped cream dollops dotted the surface. "My mind's telling me no... But my body- my body's telling me yES." So she purchased the cake and was out of the store only to purposefully get stuck in the line for a coffee shop nearby. "Forget what I said earlier. A little stomach ache never killed anybody, right?"

"So your name is Lion?" Came the barista's snide comment. Had he never heard of the animal before?

"Yes, that is I." Hazel replied nonchalantly, glancing curiously at a bag of coffee beans on display.

"How do you spell that?" Hazel almost took a spit-take.

"L.I.O.N. Lion. Plain and simple, like the animal." How does somebody not know how to spell Lion? Come on! More and more people had piled through the lines before Hazel learned why the barista had asked her how to spell her name.

"What is your name?" He had asked again, a sweet smile turning the corner of his lips upwards.

"My name is Esteban Julio Ricardo Montoya de la Rosa Ramirez." The man had replied back, his face blank as though he wasn't aware that remembering and writing that down on a coffee cup would be quite complicated.

"Wat?" Hazel muttered under her breath. No way. She could just use Esteban and call it quits. That would be enough. After she had received her drink after what felt like eons, she left the store and retraced her steps back to the place where she had left the others downstairs. But she couldn't even trace their scents. She went into every individual shop and looked for them but to no avail. She was just about to give up and ask the security when she caught sight of Frisk's short brown hair.

But she paused with a sharp intake of breath. The kid was being led along by the hand towards the front doors by a complete stranger, with Toriel and the group nowhere in the vicinity. She internalized what he looked like and snapped her eyes back onto her prey. "Game on." She chuckled under her breath. After throwing her stuff onto a nearby bench, she was right on their tail like a hungry saber-tooth tiger setting her prey up for the kill. But faster and deadlier when she had locked on to their scents. She blinked. The group was never over here in the first place. This man had been scouting way in the back of the mall!

She tracked the two of them as though she were following them to the car innocently, though the murder in Hazel's orange eyes suggested differently. Her ears were pricked, listening to every word and move that the man had made. Frisk seemed to be genuinely naive about the situation, waiting patiently as the man unlocked his car and smiled.

"Don't worry. Shh, keep quiet! If you go spilling the beans then every kid in the place will want some... But I only have enough for a few kids so hush. And keep in front of me. Just in case." Hazel braced herself, ready to kill that man if he so much as grazed Frisk's skin. But he had already trotted over that line. That man was as good as dead.

Before the man could open the passenger door, Hazel had bowled him over, pinning him to the hot tar floor of the parking lot. She snarled threateningly, raising her long bear-like claws to rest on the man's throat. Frisk had jumped, glancing around as though expecting Toriel to run around the corner.

"What do you think you're doing?!" The man choked, feebly attempting to get up but Hazel slammed him back into the pavement.

"Frisk, stay close to me." She ordered. Hazel had taken a chunk of the metal from the exhaust pipe to use as a makeshift handcuff. She welded the man to the ground, making the metal ring as thick and durable as possible. This scumbag wasn't going anywhere, anytime soon. "You're a sick bastard, praying on kids. You're lucky I didn't kill you. But that's only because there are cameras watching." Hazel secured Frisk tightly in her arms and walked confidently from the scene.

"Don't ever do any stupid shit like that again. Stranger danger, Frisk. Memorize it. You're lucky I managed to see you in time. Otherwise… well, let's not talk about that right now." The kid trembled like a leaf as Hazel hauled them back into the mall. "Let's find Toriel and the others. You're safe with me, don't you worry." After half an hour of searching, Hazel had ironically glimpsed the group in the food court. Toriel's regal dress stuck out like a sore thumb among simple gray shirts and bland jeans. "See? There's Tori. Come on. And don't wipe your snot on my shirt. That's gross."

"Hey, Tori!" She called, waving a scratched forepaw. Ruby eyes turned to meet steeled orange eyes. "Guess who I found." In a flash, the group had snatched Frisk away from her, Toriel almost absorbing the child into her tunic. The motherly goat almost cried with relief.

"I don't know what to say." Toriel began, trying to reach for the child that Asgore had snatched from her.

"Then don't say anything. I'll give you the details once we blow this popsicle stand. Now can we leave? I don't feel comfortable here anymore." Toriel half glared at her, but it was a second before it was over.

"Yes. We're leaving everybody! Back to the car."

The group had safely made it back to the hotel room, all of them in their respective rooms before the sun had set. Toriel, however, had taken Frisk back so that it was just the skeleton brothers and her. She had explained what had happened, and Toriel had thanked her before tucking Frisk in.

"so what's the deal?" Sans asked after a while. He nodded towards the extra bed. Right, the incident at the mall earlier.

"A disgusting child predator." Hazel spat back, nibbling on a piece of the cake she had purchased earlier. "Got there in the nick of time just before that scumbag was about to trap Frisk in their car." Thinking of that man's normal face made her sick. She hoped that he was still welded to the parking lot. Let the coyotes have at him.

"A CHILD PREDATOR?" Papyrus may have been smarter than he looked but there were still some basic things that he didn't know. Things he really should know if he was living among humans.

"A grown adult who kidnaps little children for fun. The child goes missing and almost always, the corpse is found months later is some random ditch." Hazel filled in the blanks, the chocolate cake becoming less and less appealing. She shoved the plate aside and inspected her claws to keep her tame. The ripped one was just barely growing back. It would take maybe another month to come in.

"SAY, LION."

"Yeah, Paps?"

"HOW DID YOU KNOW WHAT TO DO?"

"Hello? The person who's practically seen every disgusting crime ever committed right here. And besides, a random stranger pulling Frisk by the hand when you guys are nowhere to be seen? That has red flags all over it." Hazel simplified it. "It's not new to me. I've seen it happen many times in the past."

"it's pretty lucky that you were there then." Sans finished. Hazel nodded in agreement.

"I'm surprised you guys didn't notice it right away. It was a good thing that I was there then. Let's just hope that nothing like that happens ever again."

"SAY MONSTER CHILD. WHAT DO YOU PLAN ON DOING WHEN THE ROAD TRIP IS OVER?" His eyes were hopeful but sadly, his dreams were about to be crushed. Hazel didn't know what she wanted at this point in time. It was begrudgingly kind of nice to be around friends again. But she really missed sleeping out in the open. And she could do with a raw hunk of meat to wash the cake down.

"To be honest, I don't have a clue. I was supposed to go to Washington and I'm not very sure that that's where I'm supposed to go anymore. Where is the road trip ending, by the way?"

" . we all originally met there a few weeks ago." Sans replied, shoveling some of the shared cake into his grill. "are you actually thinking about staying?"

"Me? No. Truth be told, I think I'm going to stick it out until the end and see where it goes. So yeah, you'll have to put up with me for a bit longer." Papyrus whooped and cheered but Hazel brought down the mood fast.

"That doesn't mean I'm not going to leave again." Papyrus's happy smile immediately dropped. "But that doesn't mean I won't disappear again entirely. I just need a day to think about it. The details need to be solidified." She put away the cake in the mini bar fridge and plopped back onto her bed. "But the trip doesn't end tomorrow, right?"

"NO. WE'RE ALL STAYING THE NIGHT IN . WE SPLIT UP IN THE MORNING AFTER." Hazel shrugged.

"Makes sense to me." She got off of her bed. "Hey, that gives me an idea. Which room is Toriel in?"

"FIFTH FLOOR, THIRD DOOR TO THE RIGHT. IT'D BE UNCANNY TO MISS IT!" Hazel nodded.

"I'm gotta make a quick detour upstairs. I'll be back soon."

"planning something?" But this time, Sans didn't make a move to keep her from going. Neither did Papyrus or Undyne. Curious.

"Yup! And I'm going up there. Alone." She declared. Before the others could bat an eyelash, she threw open the front door and was gone in a flash. Thank the lord that this place had stairs! She skipped right up the stairs and quickly found the floor that she was looking for, pivoting on her heel to turn right. Papyrus was also right. The noise coming from underneath the door was uncanny and hard to miss. Hazel rose up on her paws and gave the door three smart knocks with the blunt ends of her claws.

"Who's there?" Came Asgore's low growling voice. Hazel replied and the door was slowly cracked open. "Oh! And you're by yourself? Curious. Come in anyway!" Asgore let her in, scanning the hallways before carefully locking the doors.

"Uh, is there something wrong? You're acting as though you're expecting someone to break in."

"It's nothing." Asgore waved her off. "A bunch of people came through here earlier knocking about anti-monster rallies next week. It's nothing that we can't handle."

"Alright then. I'll leave you to it then." Hazel was astonished to see how destroyed it was inside the hotel room. Crayons and paper drawings everywhere, take out boxes stacked up on the table by the window, the tv was blaring loudly about a new soda guaranteed to cause heart failure. She got lost in the sauce for a few minutes. "Sorry about the mess in here." Asgore apologized before returning to his place by the door.

"I think you should be telling that to the hotel janitor." At the sound of her voice, Frisk had straightened up, almost barrelling into them in their excitement. "Slow down the brakes, kid. This is not a raceway. You alright? You're not shaking' like a leaf so I guess that's good." Frisk nodded before diving back behind the second bed.

"Ah, my child." Toriel had piped up from her place behind her own bed. She had been busily packing away her stuff when Hazel had entered. "I was not expecting a visit from you so soon. What brings you here?"

"Well, the brothers told me that you're heading to Ebott tomorrow and then after that, the road trip is over. Is that correct?"

"Yes." Toriel paused. "What does this have to do with what you asked me?" And then her eyes began to glow with realization. "Are you thinking of staying?"

"Why does everybody keep asking me that? No. At least, I don't know at the minute. So I am giving you a few hours in advance so you can't say anything later. I don't know how long it will take to reach Ebott City, but when we do leave from, say Yellowstone, expect me to go off on a little journey before we even hit the city limits." Toriel furrowed her eyebrows in confusion drawing Asgore's attention from the door.

"You are leaving on the last day of the trip?" He rumbled, his own anxiety reflection in his eyes. Hazel shook her head.

"No. Before we reach the Ebott after we leave from Yellowstone, expect me to just- disappear without a word. However, you will see me again if you happen to come within let's say fifty-thousand meters of . I plan on visiting my old haunts before night falls, so no, I'm not going anywhere. Just wanted to let you know ahead of time."

"Can I come?" Flowey peeped up from his pot on the table. He had perked up at the mention of , his golden petals twitching.

"So you could keep an eye on me or because you wanted to see your old flower power pals back in the pit?"

"Haha. Very funny. I kind of want to visit the Underground again. It's been awhile." Flowey admitted. It was rare that the flower was completely absent of sarcasm and frustration. But he spoke with a hint of nostalgia that Hazel could understand. Toriel and Asgore looked as though they wanted to refrain from anything that would cause you to suddenly disappear without a word with a refuge flower.

"Alright, you can come with me if Toriel allows it. Anywho, I need to get back to my room before Papyrus sends a search party out for me. Bye now!" Hazel let herself out of the busy room, skirting around a group of people with hiking gear. They didn't even seem to pay attention to her as she passed, so they weren't the anti-monster people. She wasn't exactly thrilled about the extra person on her trip but then again, Flowey would be fine without her to watch over. He could take care of himself.

"so what's the plan?" Sans asked as soon as she came crashing through the door. Undyne and Alphys had apparently set up a movie to watch but they had brought their own pillows and blankets with them. Hazel arched an eyebrow at the colorful anime that had popped up onto the screen.

"It's not terrible- I promise." Alphys had sworn nervously. Hazel waggled her eyebrows and resumed her position on her bed.

"If I disappear tomorrow with Flowey, don't panic." She began, fluffing out her pillows. "I already told Toriel that I'm not going anywhere. Flowey and I arranged to visit the remains of the Underground. That, and I'm visiting a few of my old haunts beforehand. It's going to be a ton of fun. For me at least."

"What? We don't get to come along?" Undyne added, a bit hurt.

"You can, but like I said, I'll be going at random. As in, I might be gone before we even get to the city. I've got a whole mental list of places I want to visit and the Underground is only a bite of it. If we have enough time, I'll show you the places but not until then. You guys can get back to your movie. I'll be over here planning stuff." If the others said anything, she didn't hear it and began to think until she grew drowsy.

The group had left very early in the morning to have enough time for Ebott. Flowey and Hazel had been secretly planning when to slip away during the early morning trip back from Yellowstone. "We can't just leave when they're going to the bathroom. They'll expect it!" Flowey argued, his voice a mere whisper as the two of them sat in the back. The whole car ride was quiet, and Hazel knew that they were trying to catch words of their escape.

"I've already accounted for everything," Hazel whispered back. " I've got a plan. When I tell you to move, wrap your wines around my arm. Got me?" Flowey nodded quickly. The trip over the Idaho border was idyllic. Lush forested mountains, clear twinkling streams, and calling circling birds overhead.

The car had passed around a roundabout before passing a bridge sign. "Move!" Hazel whispered. As she quickly popped open the trunk door, a huge elk had leaped in front of the car. The sound of Asgore slamming on the breaks was enough of a coverup for the two to slide out and close the door slowly, unnoticed by all.

Hazel watched slyly as the car kept driving and before long had slowly disappeared into the distance. "This is where things get fun." Hazel mewed with a wicked grin. "How fast can you travel without that pot?" She jabbed a clawed thumb at the brown pot that she held in her paw.

"Fast enough to get to Ebott within the hour. Is that the plan?"

"Did you really think I was going to tote you everywhere in that pot of yours?" She carefully unpotted the grumpy plant and placed the pot into the bushes, concealing it under leaf scraps. "I'll come back for this later. We meet up at the mountain in an hour. Deal?"

"Deal!" Flowey sounded a bit too enthusiastic to be free of his pot, disappearing into the ground with a small 'pop'. Hazel stretched luxuriously. This was the farthest she had been from her friends in what had felt like ages! Even so, she took a few minutes to laze about in the weak morning sunshine and to relish the cool wind in her fur. Soon enough, she'd be able to wake up to that every single day. But she stretched again and took off in the direction of Ebott.

Hazel had reached the surrounding forests of Ebott much faster than she had planned. The morning sun was just now rising over the horizon, giving her enough time to check her statistics. Toriel said that the trip to Ebott would take a few minutes over three hours. When her escapade took place it was only half an hour into the trip. It had taken her another half an hour to get here. That meant that Hazel still had two hours to waste before the others had even reached the town. She was absolutely giddy with pride. "I wonder if they've noticed that we're gone yet. Flowey hadn't appeared yet which still gave her plenty of time to visit a few of her former haunts.

She raced through the southern pine fields, a dumb smile on her face as she purposefully crushed the brittle pine needles under her paws. She started taking in the view of the city from this height, gazing out from a sturdy branch as blackbirds wheeled across the barren blue sky, smudged with hues of orange and pink. "I used to think that the city looked horrendous compared with this homely forest of mine. It's not so bad, nowadays." She simpered.

She skipped over the dew-covered glades and almost tripped over a familiar line of rocks down in the murky parts of the forest, still untouched after years. She had only gone a far way before the familiar scent of catnip drew her in. "The herb field!" Hazel skirted around the roots of still-growing mint and rosemary, taking in the old scents of home. She had even rolled through a patch of colorful marigold, breathing deeply. "I can't believe all of this stuff is still here! Nobody has destroyed it."

She slowly left the herbs behind, soon coming upon a thin dirt trail that snaked through the forest. The path was now lined by colorful rocks and planted twigs, even as it cut over streams and trenches. "This is new." She followed the glittering path with her eyes rounded in marvel, drawing away at the last second to lay on a dusty path where even her boosted vision couldn't see. It led to the mountain, looming above all that she had known around the area. But that was the last nearby place on her list. She still had a few more haunts to visit before she would tackle the mountain.

Two hours had gone by and no sign of Flowey anywhere. She had caught his scent near the ravine by the moss-covered boulder and the split ash tree, suggesting that he was somewhere nearby if not perfectly blending in. "Maybe he went into the mountain without me?" Hazel had been through nearly all of her haunts, saving the worst for after the mountain. She had taken as much of it to heart as possible and was now staring into the empty tunnel of where the barrier used to stand.

She had visited the Great Oak with its carved initials and cut rope necklaces. She had traipsed through the burial field where flower hybrids swayed in the warm southern breeze. She had fallen near the old broken-down atrium, its moss-covered windows no longer bearing the traces of her mother. She had skipped by the bottomless lake where an old dinosaur was said to roam. She had backtracked over the burning grounds, old memories burning slowly before she stopped trying to remember how many bodies were buried underneath the soil.

She had taken a trip to see the scratched willow tree were the hidden crimes of the forest were so numerous that fading claw marks dotted the tree along even its thinnest branches., She had played with the water lilies in the pond that bobbed quietly on the gentle waters. She had been through all of her old hunting spots, watching for the fluffy fall of lapwing feathers or the scuffle of prey in the undergrowth. She had dozed in the spots by the lazy river, watches as the sparkling water swept past her nose.

She had even gone as far as taking flowers to the charred remains of her old house. But she had been struck like a lightning bolt, disgusted with what she had found in its place. Somebody had bulldozed the entire area including the dying purple orchids that her mother had so painstakingly pruned. In turn, they had replaced it with a small and shoddy winter cabin, some of the windows busted and the clearing smelling of alcohol and mold. Broken beer bottles and plastic metal bottle caps littered the dead grass which made the deserted cabin unapproachable.

The old oak trees which had served as the place for many fruitless stargazing nights had been carved and sliced into by multiple knives and bludgeoned but what looked like axe marks. The old weeds that she had always been so fond of had been torn away leaving ugly patches of bare earth. She couldn't be here. This was somebody else's place now. Not a single thing from her childhood house had been untouched.

But Hazel had snapped back into the present, feeling the morning sun on her shoulder blades. "Man. It's been a long time since I've stood here." She thought to herself, turning her back to look into the background. Before falling, the sky was just the sky but now it was something completely different. The sun was halfway to its peak. As she turned back around, she heard somebody call her name.

"Hazel!"

"Eh?" She turned around, spotting Papyrus's signature red scarf flapping in the wind as he easily boosted himself up the mountainside. Undyne was not far behind, her hands cupped around her mouth as she yelled. "Oh great. They're here." Hazel waited for them to reach the summit, her tail streaming in the breeze and she picked apart the flowers in the grass.

The nine of them had finally converged after two hours of being apart, mostly exclaiming at how everything still looked the same. She spotted Flowery curled around Asgore's arm, slightly grimacing but not as angry as usual. Guess he chickened out. "Let's not waste time up here. I wanna go and see if my old house is still standing!" Hazel growled impatiently.

"I AM VERY CURIOUS TO SEE IF OURS IS AS WELL. LET US NOT FORGET ABOUT THOSE WHO ARE STILL DOWN THERE."

"I wonder if Gaster is still in his lab." Hazel paused. "And I'm about to find out! Later plebeians! You're talking too long!" Hazel took off, remembering the layout of the old cavern as she felt the pointy rocks under her feet. All of those kids who had died here… She sprinted through the throne room, eyeing the flourishing golden flowers with mirth. They had spread up the walls and around the two abandoned thrones, new white hybrids laying tucked away beneath the curtain of moss. Who said that flowers couldn't take care of themselves?

"Hazel, wait up!"

"Never!"

She had eagerly whipped past the old judgment hall, watching her shadow disturb the colorful stained light that slanted onto the floor. She had stopped by the old cliff over the city, making out faint glittering rocks in the ceiling high above. "I feel really old just looking at this place!" The former town of bustling monsters and illegal vending machines was just a fraction of how it had been before. A few buildings had been reformed into new places and from a distance, she could see the empty lot where Cheeky's place had been torn down. "Wow." She breathed. "So much has changed."

But she ran on, switching from two to four paws to make the trip faster. She slid past the old high-roofed buildings into the elevators which still worked for some reason. They closed with a quiet click and raced downwards, Hazel standing without panic as the doors opened in the abandoned MTT lobby. "Holy shit."

The old mettaton fountain had stopped running, the familiar smell of burgers had vanished, the familiar laughter from the stage had was merely a memory, and the busy people who used to mill through were gone chasing their own dreams in a new world. The rooms above had probably been made into a squatters dream house but she didn't want to stop and smell the roses. She wanted just a tiny glimpse of everything and then she was to move on. Snowdin was her main destination.

She had passed through Hotland, amazed that the lava lake had cooled and hardened. The floor was now covered in grass and growing fungi. She was sure that somebody had just skipped over the surface and she smiled. The atmosphere was still humid but this was another shell of its former self. Life was looking up if the unforgiving climate of Hotland was now similar to the surface above.

After passing through Hotland, she had arrived in the former shantytown of Waterfall. The creaking boardwalks were still there along with the abandoned restaurants and homes of those who had chanced freedom. She had recognized the new place Grillby had used when Snowdin was evacuated. She quickly found Toriel's old house, stopping inside to find nothing but bare walls and floors.

As she traveled through Waterfall, she was astounded to see how much it had changed. Crystal stalagmites just like the ones in the dungeons had formed from the sealing forming intricate patterns that made one sure that they could walk across them. She had passed the blocked remains of Temmie Village, somewhat relieved that more bioluminescent algae had shed some more light on the place. Even the bottomless waterfall had transformed with thick ice paths crisscrossing the surface. But what really caught her off guard was the hallway with the old worn-down statue. Gaster's old door was nowhere to be seen.

"Maybe he changed his mind?" She voiced outwards. "I didn't take him for the indecisive kind. Onwards to Snowdin!" It had taken maybe ten minutes before she had found the old tunnel that connected Dark Snowdin and Waterfall. She quickly crawled through the passage, not at all prepared for the bitter cold that whipped through her fur as she emerged. But it was like reliving the greatest memory her mind could recall.

"Ah. It feels great to be back!" She yowled to the cavern ceiling, listening as they echoed back to her. She relished how her paws sunk in the snow, leading her towards the old trail that led towards Snowdin. But she stopped dead in her tracks. The old path had been completely buried in ice. Did a river form over it while she was gone? No big deal. Hazel tested her weight on the ice before pushing herself across, enjoying the new ice rink that had grown in.

After she had successfully crossed, she found herself staring at the husk of the skeleton brother's house. The snow hadn't progressed any further and had actually gone down to stay at the top of the front door. The entire town of Snowdin was similar, still dark but glowing serenely with the old lamp posts as she took a small shortcut through the woods.

The path was more rugged than it had before but she recognized every tree and mossy rock that she came across until the treeline had suddenly ended. And there it was. "My old house. It's still standing?" She gaped. "This place should've caved in months ago!" She laughed. But regardless, she kicked down the front door and marveled in amazement at the scene before her.

It was just as she had left it two years prior when the call of the woods had sent her away. Every piece of furniture was still here in mint condition along with all of her stored letters, books, and food. Scratch that. Whatever had started to rot had attracted scavengers long ago, colorful clusters of fungi encasing the kitchen table. She found herself dancing up the stairs towards her room, slowly opening the door in case somebody had squatted here. But the coast was clear.

"This is surreal." She found all of her clothing as she had left it, but what had almost brought her to tears was the single sweater laying folded on her bed. The pure white sweater with every corner embroidered and stitched. Signatures of all kinds of colorful ink dotted any empty surface that had been left. "The friend sweater? But I thought Papyrus took this when I disappeared ages ago!" She was too happy to speak. She slipped the giant white sweater over her previous outfit before searching through her closet for something else.

"The collar is still in here too!" Hazel began to pile everything that she could fit into her old backpack, careful to keep the collar around her neck. "All of these old books and all of these old letters are coming with me!" She said, cramming them into any available space.

It was as though a part of her soul had been stored inside of this house, here beneath the earth where only her heartbeat disturbed the serene silence. Here where she remembered every happy conversation and toe-stubbing as she reached for a punch card. Here where she had found her peace and after a long tiring day. It was enough to make her cry genuine tears of happiness. She had built this house from the floor up. She had watched this place become her home, where every quirk that made her her could paint themselves on the walls and chairs. She had recovered what she had left behind.

She fingered dusty photos of herself in various locations, pictures frames hung up on the walls: a silly pose near the crystal falls in Waterfall, a tiny figurine that Undyne had carved her for her birthday, a celebration photo for a certain somebody's date. She paused, scooting the couch over a few paces to reveal an old dice from a lost game of monopoly. But there was something else here, something she hadn't found yet that needed to be unearthed. Hazel knowingly laughed at the guest room downstairs and came around to the secret cellar where she had once stashed an obtrusive amount of orange juice.

Now, she found a small wooden trunk stored away in the center of the room. It was adorned with stickers and a few claw marks signifying that Hazel had owned this once. Hazel tipped her head. She didn't remember ever having this crate in her possession, but what the hell? Why not?

She popped open the lock with her claws and opened the chest, sneezing loudly as a cloud of dust erupted from it. What she saw inside made her desperately need tissues. A huge leatherbound scrapbook sat at the bottom of the chest surrounded by a large rolled-up map, a tiny silver key, a colorful broken geode, and lastly, a tiny crystallized chunk of amber. She could remember all but the scrapbook. "What the hell?" But it was mostly an astonished cry of joy and wonder.

"are you crying?" Hazel jumped, relaxing as Sans sauntered into the cellar. Hazel had once trapped in in her as a joke. Before she could wipe her face clean, Sans had caught sight of her tears slipping down her face. He whistled loudly. "you are crying."

"I have a cry-out-of-jail card this time, dude." Hazel bickered weakly. She picked up the scrapbook and flipped it open, smiling at all of the photos inside. Now she remembered events that the photos had captured. One was of her delivering a stuffed animal to a family in Waterfall. Another was of a mock duel with Papyrus. "Do you remember this scrapbook?" Sans moved closer, snatching the book out of her hands. He slowly flipped the pages, smirking as he snapped the book shut. "Oi!"

"nah. but you should keep this." He slid the scrapbook into her backpack. "huh? isn't that the map from back when-"

"-I was wandering around the Underground? Yeah, it is! Isn't that great?" She cried, unfurling it. She paused, her eyes retracing her old handiwork. "But I lost this back in the Ruins. And I lost all of this junk as well… Oh well, I'm taking it with me!" She stood up from the floor after emptying the crate, closing and locking the cellar door behind her and Sans.

"where are you gonna put this stuff?" Sans questioned, his eyes darting around the place as if assuming that Hazel would shove the entire house into her back pocket.

"I've decided what I'm going to do once the road trip is done. Seeing all of this stuff here again tucked down where the sun don't shine just solidifies it! I'll make another house on the surface!" Sans grinned a true smile, ruffling Hazel's messy hair.

"tori will be happy. where will you be building it?"

"Well, I've thought long and hard and I've decided that Norway is my best option as of this moment."

"norway?"

"What? That was my favorite country to visit when I was traveling! It still is! Endless green forests, beautiful scenery, and all the space and freedom you could ever want, tucked away in picturesque fjords and beautiful valleys. And it's close to England and Italy. I could randomly drop by and surprise you. It's decided!"


	7. POWER

An hour before you had left your house, Sans had insisted that the two of you check his own house buried beneath the snow. You nodded your head absently, a bit reluctant to leave behind the treasure trove of nostalgia that was your old abandoned house. You had a good feeling that in a few weeks time, maybe even in a few days, the constant snow and barbaric winds would make the house cave in. You gave yourself futile concerns that maybe you'd come back someday but that wasn't an option anymore. You had grown too attached to the fresh breeze the carried the scent of wheat and honey and the feeling of sunshine in your fur.

"hey, kit. we're here now."

"I almost can't recognize it anymore." You marveled, looking at the front of the house. The old Christmas lights had been torn down and some of the windows had cracked under the former weight of the snow. The wood looked as though it was already rotting and you had the faint impression that something already was inside. "Do you want me to melt the snow in front of the door?"

"nah. hold on." Before you could protest, Sans had caught you by the edge of your sweater sleeve. You felt your legs buckle underneath you, the breath being forced out of your body. And after a second more of being compressed, the two of you were standing in the barren living room of the house.

"Next time, warn me before you do that!" You growled, gasping for breath. "I will never get used to that." You shook off the standby dust from your clothes. "Did you guys leave anything here when you moved to Hotland?" You called, watching as clouds of dust rose from the carpet as you moved. The air was stale and cold, your breath coming out as clouds of steam.

"everything upstairs is still there. we were ordered to leave asap."

"Oh. Man, that sucks! But didn't you guys ever try to salvage the rest of your stuff?"

"paps did, but undyne caught us and made us turn back." You could barely catch what Sans mumbled under his breath afterward, watching as he paused before the stairs. You decided not to busy the air with talk, overtaking him on the way up the stairs. The old bone painting was still there along with the stickers on Papyrus's door.

"I don't think I ever caught where you and Paps were hiding in Hotland; this must be a walk down memory lane, huh?"

"mmhmm." That was your cue to stop talking. You decided to head back downstairs and let Sans do his thing. At least you haven't given him the chance to tell a pun or a joke. Something was rotting in here, and judging from the smell, you had a pretty good guess as to what. You padded into the kitchen, almost ripping open the refrigerator door. "I was right." Ancient spaghetti from years past was for some reason still here. It was only now growing mold. "What the hell does Papyrus even put in that stuff? Antifreeze?"

You made to turn around, your pelt immediately puffed up at Sans as he stood behind you. "Can you not do that? Anybody would think you were trying to give me a heart attack!"

"did i chair you?" You glimpsed the rotting stump of a chair in the corner.

"Really, Sans? You big dork."

"come on. the others are waiting for us back at the lab. i know a shortcut." You nodded and waited patiently as Sans teleported the both of you right in front of the metal doors. You were immediately greeted by the front doors clicking open.

"You didn't meet- meet anything strange out there, did you?" Came Alphys's voice from inside the lab.

"All clear!" You called back loudly. You and Sans took a few paces into the giant laboratory, coming face to face with Alphys, Frisk, and Undyne. "Huh? I thought you said everybody was waiting for us back here?" True, Toriel, Asgore, Flowey, and Papyrus were missing from the group.

"Toriel, Asgore, and Flowey went back- back to the ruins," Alphys explained, rapidly typing something onto the giant monitor near the elevators. "Papyrus said he was- was going to be back soon. He left a few minutes ago." Sans suddenly disappeared, leaving you alone with the others.

"Let's hope they're back here soon. I still have one place that I need to go before it gets dark." You muttered under your breath. You were interrupted by Frisk quickly walking up to you, a big grin on their face. They began to sign something to you, Undyne translating it.

"Hey! It's that sweater we gave you! You still have it?" Undyne grinned toothily pointing at the white sweater before also noticing the cyan collar that lay around your neck. "And you have that goofy collar that the kid gave you!"

"Hey, give me a break! These were the first things I found in my old house!" You grimaced as Undyne nearly snatched up your backpack.

"Fuhuhuh~ What's this? I know this backpack!" And she proceeded to sift through what you had packed up. She pulled out the old map with a scowl, asking if you were going to map the entire Earth as well.

"Isn't that what- what Google Earth is for?" Alphys questioned, but she was still a bit busy with her thing.

"What are you doing over there anyway?" You asked, moving closer to peer up at the screen. Multiple lines of code were displayed in big bold letters and numbers. Alphys looked particularly excited as she typed them in, pausing to leaf through a book on her right. The book also held code which Hazel couldn't even begin to understand. "Ah. It's for a machine or something like that."

"Right. I figured that- that since I'm here, I should take some of my code with me. It might come in- in handy for when I'm back in Japan!"

"Do you have to leave so soon?" Came Undyne's disappointed comment. Alphys blushed and returned her eyes back to the screen, a determined glint in her eyes.

"Only for a certain project will I be gone for so long." Alphys reasoned. "It shouldn't take that long to finish. Maybe- maybe three months?"

"Three months is too long!" Undyne roared.

"Oi! Are you done ripping up my bag over there?" You grimaced at the sight of all of your stuff spread out on the tile floors. "I kinda need that in pieces for when I leave." You padded over and began collecting all of the junk from your bag. Frisk had wandered over as well, eagerly eyeing your old map.

"That's right. You're leaving tomorrow, aren't you?" Undyne commented.

"Pretty much. I already told Sans what my plan is, so if you're curious, ask him about it."

"Well, he's not here right now, sooo…"

"Sooo…?" You stuffed the chunk of amber near the bottom followed by your colorful geode, a few pictures, and a few clothes that you couldn't do without. Frisk had their eyes glued to your old map, their head cocked to the side as they ran their fingers along the parchment. Undyne had stolen your scrapbook and was busily flitting through the pages.

"Tell us your plan, you punk!"

"Well for starters, you don't need to worry about me vanishing. I've thought long and hard about it and I've decided that I'm just gonna move to Norway. Plain and simple."

"Really? That's it?" Undyne scowled. "No details?"

"Fine. I will be moving somewhat permanently to Norway. Close to England and a few hours trip to Italy. I'll be looking into putting myself on the grid and I'll be getting a landline so you guys can bug me whenever you want. I can't say much other than that."

"Hmm." Undyne went back to the scrapbook leaving Frisk open to pester you about the map.

"That? Oh, that's the layout of the maze underneath Snowdin. Yeah, and that is the horizontal impression of the cave system beneath Waterfall. I snuck a crystal from the lake if you want to see it." After Frisk and Undyne had thoroughly gone through your stuff, you decided that you had waited long enough. You got your bag together and stood from the tile floors. Undyne and Frisk were now both peering over Alphys's shoulder, too distracted to see you easily slip out through the open metal doors. You had neglected to leave them a note but you had a hunch that one of them would be able to track you down regardless.

The trip back to the former barrier was somewhat tiring with all of this stuff on your back. As soon as you had made it out of the Underground, you narrowed your eyes to the skies above. The sun was almost at its peak, and with it came the calls of robins from deep in the forest below. A little snack wouldn't hurt.

After prowling through your old hunting grounds, you had managed to track and bring down the biggest elk you had ever sunk your teeth into. The area was nice and shaded with plenty of undergrowth meaning that nobody, not even a hiking human would be able to simply surprise you without you noticing first. Everybody except for Sans, apparently. Just as you were about to rip another chunk out of its chest, your ears had picked up a small pop not even a few footsteps in front of you.

"..." You picked up your head, knowing fully well that your muzzle was stained with blood and bits of shredded meat and smiled. The poor thing looked absolutely horrified, taking a few steps back.

"Heya Sansy. What brings you here to my afternoon snack party?"

"kid, that's disgusting." Sans spoke after a while. His pinprick eyes were very dim, as though the sight of the blood was bringing back bad memories. You could relate. You ripped another chuck free and finished off the chest area, now gunning for the legs.

"Heh heh heh. I'm sorry. I was getting tired of waiting in the laboratory. And a bit famished too. Want some-"

"no thank you."

"Suit yourself." You replied swiftly. "Where did everybody else go? Are they still at the mountain?"

"no." Sans had finally seemed to disregard the mutilated elk on the forest floor, parking himself near the twisted roots of an elm tree. "they decided to tour around the city. i stayed behind." He still couldn't bring himself to look at the scraps.

"Very interesting. By the way, how did you find me? I made sure to eat here where nobody would be able to sneak up on me, but not even ten minutes into chowing down, you just pop up out of nowhere."

"alphys built this machine," Sans explained, pulling a small metal box out of his jacket pocket. The monitor was almost black, a few wisps of gray and white swirling in the background. As he took it out, it began to beep wildly before Sans had flicked a switch at the top. "toriel asked her to build it because you keep disappearing."

"So it's a soul locator or something like that? But here's what I want to know. I was already gone when Alphys was working on it. If you found me using that machine then how did you manage to even get my soul coordinates in the first place?"

"i dunno kid. ask alphys." You nodded, finishing up the body with a small gulp.

"I will make sure to do that later. But as for the time being, I got one more thing to do before I join up with the rest of you." You dragged the scraps of the elk into the undergrowth, swiftly burying it. Something would find it later and finish it, as was the way of life. "Alright. You can tag along if you want but it's bound to be a short ways into the city." Sans nodded and got to his feet.

"only if it means getting away from all of this blood sooner."

"What? Don't you wanna get some blood on those slippers of yours?" You teased.

"no way, kit. come on. let's get going.

"I'm fairly sure that it's this way, Sans." You argued, pointing towards a small suburban neighborhood. Tiny houses dotted the streets with children on bicycles scooting down the streets. Everything looked fairly normal. Sans had diligently followed you through the city, and after half an hour of searching, the two of you were now walking quietly down a peaceful street accompanied by birdsong.

"what business would you have here, of all places?" Sans mused.

"You'll see in a second." The two of you hugged the right side of the sidewalk, soon coming upon a small park of sorts. A few monster teenagers played ironically in the sandbox and one was attempting to do a full circle around the swing set. "I know all of this by heart, even after all these years." Not even seconds after you had passed the park, you had stopped and faced the empty lot of a dead memory.

Where there had once been a giant house, now remained a grassy lot, wildflowers and various herbs spreading across the lawn like a wildfire. Beautiful willow trees cast shade over the tiny place removing all signs of the evil that had once stood here for years. In the middle of it all was a small metal bench covered in ivy and daisies.

"we're here to see a bench?" But Sans's tone wasn't joking. As a matter of fact, the skeleton beside you was a bit paler than usual, his eyes fixed on the bench.

"Not the bench. The whole lot, silly." You padded across the lot, feeling the shifting dirt underneath your paws. The old house had been torn down and somebody had filled in the basement. Thank god. Where the entryway had once stood became a sweeping field of sunflowers, their petals turned towards the sun. But what got you was, in fact, the bench: it was sitting right in the center of what would be the basement: out of alignment for anybody who hadn't known the inside of the house, but you knew better.

"Who did this?" You whispered under your breath. You shook your head and turned around. Sans had remained on the sidewalk, hands hitched in his pockets. "Oi! Let's go and find the others. We've only got a few more hours left after all." Sans nodded.

"did you find what you were looking for?" He spoke up at last.

"I did. So back to the plan. It's an hour after noon which means that all of us have until tomorrow morning to spend with each other. Scratch that, you guys have until tomorrow morning. I'll be leaving a bit earlier than that."

"well, alph hooked this machine up to the world map," Sans paused, pulling out the small remote from his pocket. "which means that we'll know where you are if we want to."

"Well gee, don't I feel trusted. Anyway, are you and Papyrus going out to do something?"

"we don't need to. we live close by, remember?"

"Right."

"so can i ask you a question?"

"Uh, sure. What's it about?" You replied, the two of you exiting the neighborhood. Already, the midday traffic split the roads and it was becoming more and more difficult to cross the streets without almost getting run over.

"the state of your soul."

"You guys really can't seem to let it go, can you?" You sighed. "Sure, make my day. We've got plenty of time to cross the city. Half an hour. Go right on ahead..."

"are you sure about this alph?"

"Yes!" It was almost a quarter to midnight. Sans watched as Alphys hooked something up to Lion's arm. The kid had agreed prior to the small experiment that the doctor had pleaded them into being their test patient for. They had nodded off long ago, the experiment being directed while she was asleep.

"what exactly are you testing her for?"

"I want to- to monitor the properties of her soul! It's unique, in a sense. Given the amount of LV, her behavior definitely should've changed by now."

"chara?" Sans shuddered before shaking his head. That fucking bench from that lot had been enough to make him sick without Alphys comparing Lion to Chara.

"Just a bit. Any dosing of LV around ten should've of at least cracked the SOUL in half but for some reason, Lion's is fine." She brought the SOUL to hover in the air. Once upon a time ago, the kid's SOUL was evenly divided between white, gray and smoky gray. Now, it was almost pure black, the few remaining wisps of white swirling at the top as though they were drowning. It remained in one piece and turned the room a color of smoky gray. Sans had been startled after Alphys had shown it to him the first time.

"is that not good?"

"I don't know; it's strange but it's not bad. Rather- rather an abnormality if anything." Alphys softly grazed the surface with her blunt claws, her monitor flashing as new data was recorded onto it. "Now that's something! I've never actually tested- tested on somebody who's LV was above fifteen, but this is actually quite exciting!"

"why do you say that?" Sans had taken his turn in inspecting the SOUL, holding it while Alphys saved and recorded her progress. "kinda weird coming from the former royal scientist."

"Oh, hush! I don't have the- the luxuries of keeping that title. According to what my bots are picking up from Lion's SOUL, she should've cracked ages ago! Did you know, she's only two hundred and seventy-six points away from peaking? That's incredible! The energy potentiation within the root of the SOUL has to be pretty powerful to keep the whole thing from splitting apart."

"simplify that please."

"The energy needed to keep the SOUL from cracking at this point is- it's similar to the electrical power needed to power an entire city the size of Los Angeles! The only person that even- even comes close to having that much SOUL power was Frisk when they had the power to reset. And- and they've lost that now!" Sans watched as the jet black SOUL pulsed softly before pausing.

"uh, alph?"

"Yes, Sans?"

"something's wrong here." Right as he said that, the SOUL gave a sudden jerk. Lion began to twitch a bit, her eyes closed tightly. The dappled fur along her spine prickled and then puffed out. "alphys! stop the experiment!" Her breathing became uneven and loud, drawing to a rattling hiss. Her claws slid out, almost slashing the bed sheets as small twitches became full-on spasms.

"I can't shut it down. Wait."

"what do you mean 'wait'?" But Alphys was right. After another minute of uncontrolled spasms, Lion had stilled. Almost as soon as the first pulse was detected again, she flew upwards, gasping for breath as though she was being chased. Her eyes were wide enough to see the whites, and before Sans could do anything, the SOUL had disappeared without a sound back into her chest.

"I've got the data here!" Alphys announced, straightening the glasses on her snout before turning back to face her patient.

"ok, doctor frankenstein. you alright kid?"

"... I'm fine." Came her quiet reply. She was still breathing heavily and her fur hadn't yet slicked down.

"The data that I've collected on your SOUL suggests a high account of anomalies. Good anomalies, don't worry! But I don't quite know what happened at the end there-"

"...Don't worry about it, I was just relapsing." Lion waved them off, but Sans could easily see the disturbing glint of horror in her clouded eyes. That this wasn't the first time she had woken like that. The kid was hiding something.

"relapsing?"


	8. Who Done Did It?

Heavy rain battered the cold concrete pavement outside as you found yourself squinting up at the dark gray clouds above. The morning sun hadn't even come up yet but all of you had cleaned your hotel rooms and had been preparing to vacate the premises. The rain began to soak your pelt, the thick undercoat being waterlogged but you couldn't seem to find the care for it.

All around you, your friends were saying their goodbyes as if they would never see each other again. Toriel, Frisk, and Flowey would be heading back to New York for the rest of the summer. Frisk had promised to send everybody postcards, and Flowey had said something about just video messaging everybody at once. Asgore would be staying here in Ebott City for his monster goods management. You had been surprised that the two boss monsters weren't back together yet. Sans and Papyrus would be heading back to Europe; Sans for his paid leave summer and Papyrus going back to Italy because his restaurant was opening a new location. Undyne was going back into active duty near Turkey leaving Alphys to head back to Japan to continue her work.

"That just leaves me. Man, this is awkward." Despite the others congregating around you and almost suffocating you with their teary goodbyes, you just seemed to be invisible. They had already packed their bags away, while you had nothing but the clothes on the back and stuff that the group had given you before you had gone to sleep. "Should I just leave already?" You mumbled nervously under your breath.

You already had a plan but… was that it? Yes, you assured yourself. It had to be. Just you and you alone. You didn't want or need them breathing down your neck. You hadn't told the others everything… yet. Earlier, you had pawned off some of the gold from your house and had racked up enough money to buy yourself a small apartment in Bergen.

You had already snuck out earlier and bought yourself a plane ticket to Norway, so that wasn't anything big that you felt like mentioning. "It's a good thing I booked a different Airport." Everybody except for Asgore would be taking a plane back home via the same airport. You had triple checked that you wouldn't be in that fest. Prolonged goodbyes were just a pain in the ass for you.

You suddenly felt your chest tighten mildly, enough to feel as though your ribs were about to crack. Your head began to swim and you blinked before clearing the cloud away from your eyes. Dammit! You could've sworn that the next relapse was set for two days from now! You could feel a relapse coming on quickly but the pain wasn't acute yet. You had at least three or four hours if anything before the next wave.

Alphys had given you an old UV-powered phone that would work above ground as well as underground so if the others wanted to pester the fuck out of you, that's what they would call you on. You just stood around feeling awkward, so before anybody could notice you slipping away, you were off without a glance over your back. It was finally time to get going.

"Let's just… get to the airport and get this over with." With busy traffic and the temperature heating up so that your skin was melting to the pavement, the walk to the airport had taken almost an hour. "Alright, my plane leaves in an hour and a half. Enough time to go through security and wait." You chuckled, remembering that last time that you had went into an airport: you had fucking snuck onto the plane with nobody noticing. You checked your phone, a little disappointed that nobody had even seemed to notice that you were gone yet.

This time, after going through multiple sliding doors, glancing at multiple maps, and walking an insane distance between food court after food court, you had made it to the main terminal. It hadn't taken very long to gain access to the top floor. After all, you had no bags to speak of and the metal search at the top had only taken a second to complete. Now, you sat in the correct boarding area, listening to the news on the television as the pilots refueled their planes before boarding passengers.

"Recent news on the killings near the city of Sinaloa, Mexico, where the numerous contained bodies of monsters and humans alike have raised some concern about whether a new conflict is coming to life." You paused, glancing to the side as a dumpy-looking woman eyed you with open hostility. She quickly brought her children closer to her and muttered something that you didn't catch, the two of them looking frightened as you yawned.

You twiddled your ticket in your paws, listening idly as the reporter kept on. "Three days ago, an anonymous witness reported the location of where the police found the bodies of thirteen humans, men, women, and children alike. The bodies were lynched and heavily burned. Police also found bowls and tubberware nearby containing the dusted bodies of unrecognizable monster parts. The coroner had determined that the dust that was found in total would amount up to five monster deaths at the scene."

Your eyes flickered to the screen in a daze, watching as the camera blurred out the bloody and charred bodies of the deceased humans along with showing some of the tubberware too. Those, they didn't blur or censor. You had a good feeling that something like this would pop up after the monsters broke free. Not in Sinaloa though.

"Now boarding passengers on flight 507 Alpinian Airlines!" That's your cue to get moving. You looked at your glossy ticket, noticing that your seat would be in the front of the plane. At least you would get off of the plane first. You quickly got up and went to the back of the line, waiting as the flight attendant took the tickets slowly. She finally got to you. "Welcome to- to flight 507." She stuttered nervously. You sighed and shook your head. Discrimination, really?

"I get that all the time."

"I'm sorry. I mean you no offense. Your seat is in the front. Have a nice flight!" You smiled at the lady. At least some people could accommodate monsters and be nice.

"Have a good day-" You waved merrily but you were loudly cut off as the squat lady from earlier yelled from the back of the line.

"Excuse me, but you can't let a monster onto the plane!" You just kept walking, a forced smile on your muzzle. Some people would never learn. "Hey! Security!"

You eventually found a seat next to another monster, his eyes locked onto the front of the plane as he took up the aisle seat. "Do you mind if I take the window seat?" You asked him politely. He didn't say anything but he nodded instead, getting out of his seat. "Thank you." thankfully, there was a whole empty seat between you that nobody had bothered to fill. The two of you being monsters and all. The only con was that the obnoxious lady from earlier had spotted you after taking her seat in the next aisle and had insisted on glaring at you the entire time.

The monster next to you had sneered before turning to face her, saying something to her in a harsh language you couldn't understand. The lady didn't understand either. You silently thanked the man but was a little curious as to how he had understood what you had asked him earlier.

"At this time, we would like to remind all of our passengers to please turn off your cell phones and silence your electronics. We will let you know when it is appropriate to restart them. Please fasten your seatbelts and when the cabin is stable, remain in your seats until we say you can walk around." You did exactly as the aviatress told you to do, clicking the metal belt into place. It was bad enough that this flight was going to take around twelve hours so you had made sure to stop into a few bookstores before stopping at your gate. You also loaded up on snacks just in case you got snacky.

You felt the plane lurch forward, the space out of the window going faster and faster until eventually the plane lifted off of the ground and the plane was so high that Ebott City looked minuscule. Somebody screamed at the back of the plane, but it was mostly out of fear and exhilaration. After five minutes of feeling the plane rumble underneath your paws, you let out a breath of air is it stilled. "You may now restart your phones. Be courteous to your fellow passengers and enjoy your trip! You may walk around the cabin now."

So of course, the first thing you did was start up your phone and mute the ringer. Then, you checked to see if you had any missed calls or messages. "Oh geez. Now they notice that I'm gone." You mumbled underneath your breath. Undyne had called you five times, Sans had called you three, Toriel four times. Alphys had messaged you about thirteen times, and the most recent message was from Papyrus. The monster beside you was reading a magazine with no headphones and you didn't want to disturb him. You decided to start with Undyne.

puNK WHERE DID YOU GO?!~ macho man

Yes.~ Lion.

You smiled, knowing that the answer was purposefully challenging. You then texted Toriel, Alphys, and Papyrus the same answer. Sans was different, though.

-text me when you get there.~ Sans

With that, you put your phone in your pocket and took out one of the books that you had purchased. Les Miserables. It looked fairly interesting and if it had a speckle of violence, you could get into it. Just a little bit. So you now cracked the heavy tome open and began to read until your eyes eventually began to droop. The others hadn't texted you back yet, so you turned towards the window and watched the clouds race by under your nose.

Sans sat in the dark living room of his apartment, glaring silently at the giant stacks of paperwork that sat on his desk. He had said that he would do them the minute he got back to his apartment in London after his road trip, but that had been immediately put off for another day. Or maybe another week. Now, he sat and watched the news, his eyes partially glued on to a website broadcasting dank memes.

Papyrus had called him earlier, sending him pictures of his new restaurant in Florence. The whole place looked pretty snazzy. He had promised his brother that he was going to take the time off from work (ahem take a shortcut) to Florence and see it for himself. Papyrus had no so subtle decided that when he came down, the first thing he was going to eat was Pap's new spaghetti recipe.

I AM ABSOLUTELY SURE THAT YOU WILL LOVE IT! I HAD A BIT OF HELP BUT IT IS BETTER THAN EVER! NYEHEHEH! ~bro

chive am sure that it will be great~ sans

SAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAANS! ~bro

Despite his face, Sans was the happiest he had been in months. He had met back with his friends, Paps' business was booming, Alphys had a new technology that everybody wanted, Toriel got a raise, and the kid could actually be tracked as of yesterday. Now he had the rest of July and August to spend leisurely with the final exams to grade and report online. Only a few of his students had absolutely bombed the test, resulting in him worriedly eating nice cream on the couch while watching a French soap opera that he couldn't even understand.

His phone suddenly buzzed momentarily before blaring out heavy metal rock music as loud as the speakers could manage. He winced, pressing his phalanges against the speaker hole. Why had he set Lion's theme song to Metallica again? To rattle his bones? He opened his phone to see a whole barrage of text messages. "who would've thought?"

Oi! Are you getting this?~kit kid

It's me, ya boi. The one and only. ;D ~kit kid

I just got off my plane, and I just got done doing stuff. You asked me to text you once I was on land sooo…. here I am!~kit kid

whERE YOU AT?~kit kid

Welcome to the Arctic, we've got ice and rain. ~kit kid.

We've got foghorns, snow, and hail. Honey, we've got the pain. ~kit kid.

We are the people that can stand below eighteen degrees. ~kit kid.

And if you've don't got the coats or clothing, we've got your disease (asthma). ~kit kid

Arctic, welcome to the Arctic,

Some guy slipped and broke his t-t-t-t-t-t-t-t-t-t-teeth, teeth.~kit kid

Uh, I, I, I just heard him scream (in pain).~ kit kid

"whoa." The kid sure knew how to be consistent. He was about to text her back when his phone buzzed again. This time, it was Toriel's ringtone that played. The message she had sent him was all in caps. "what?" He let Lion's message sit before scrolling into his own private messages with Toriel. Normally, her texts were short with maybe a few puns in them. This was anything but.

SANS, TURN TO CHANNEL 1307 IMMEDIATELY. I KNOW YOU HAVE THAT CHANNEL. PAPYRUS AND ALPHYS HAVE IT TOO. ~pun apprentice }:)

"that's…. odd." But Sans already had the remote in his hands. As soon as he flipped towards that channel, he was bombarded with news from the US. It showed pictures of an excavation site and of stuff being hauled out of a large pit. He figured that if Tori wanted him to watch it, it was worth his time. He listened, albeit with bored interest.

"-excavation site near the base of has the city spooked. Thousands of skeleton, broken, disfigured, and scorched were excavated from around the mountain, and the area has historically never served as a cemetery." Now that caught his attention. A new young man came onto the screen, his green eyes misty. "Jonathan Otoa. I have looked at many of the bones myself as a coroner but never this many at once. A great deal of them have been buried with arms and legs missing. Almost a third of them are recent; the bone marrow inside has only been sitting for at least ten years. My crew has also found multiple scorched bones around the area, some of them split open with work that would be too strong for animals to cause."

"The number of missing person accounts is just a tiny fraction of the total bodies that we have found here at the crime scene." The news station then began to show a few pictures of the bones. A few had deep gouge marks that showed the dry bone marrow inside and a few with some marrow intact. A few pictures showed caved in skulls, broken rib cages, and the most chilling one being the whole scorched skeleton that was found lying in a deep pit a few kilometers from the entrance of the mountain. If Sans had a gag reflex, he would've been clutching the toilet bowl by now. "We currently have two suspects that are being questioned at the moment. More info tomorrow." The television showed the pictures of two men, one being young and the other being in his mid-forties.

Sans was spinning. Hadn't all of them been there in the area all day yesterday? Innocently touring around the mountain with no clue that a mass grave had been lying underneath their feet. Thousands of corpses… He texted Toriel back as soon as a commercial came on.

did asgore tell you? ~sans

Yes. The bodies were reported a few hours ago. That's pretty terrifying, don't you think?~ pun apprentice }:)

it's disgusting and creepy ~sans.

But that's not what I texted you about. Do you know if Lion is on the ground? ~pun apprentice }:)

yep. she's on the ground. why ~sans

I received a visit from the FBI. ~pun apprentice }:)

everything ok? ~sans

Apparently, the excavation crew has dug up something else along with the bodies. Crates of things: tapes, books, and pictures. They told me that Lion was in one of the pictures. ~ pun apprentice }:)

Sans, if you can text her, tell her that the FBI are looking for her. ~ pun apprentice }:)


	9. Cat and Mouse

in beams of sunlight shone through the swirling black clouds, sparsely illuminating the clustered hills of dusty boulders that reached higher than the storm itself. A silver snake of a river cut through the landscape, only being broken by a lithe silhouette as they raced across the mountains in pursuit of a meal.

Rheumy orange eyes watched as a lone reindeer gallivanted near the crest of the bay, antlers down as it snuffled at the root of a blackberry bush. Hungry. But so was she. Hazel leaped so quietly that her huge paws made no sound, her body low to the ground as she crept over the hard grass. She waited. The reindeer paused, its head going stiff as it wildly checked its surroundings. She could see the fear in its glazed eyes, a watery blue tinted with the hint of the midnight sun.

The skirmish was over in seconds, Hazel ripping the poor thing's throat out without a fuss. She cracked a wild grin and tucked in. "First fresh meal since yesterday." She easily cleaned out the torso and pelvis, discarding the head and hooves for the buzzards. After she picked the bones clean, she scratched a hole in the earth and buried the scraps of what used to be a reindeer.

She licked her lips and sighed, deciding to rest on a jut of stone over the river. She had been walking all night, not too far north. Now, the sun was slowly beginning to move across the horizon but never slipping over it. A day that never ended for weeks at a time. "Hmm." She had preferred to make her cottage in a forest. It wouldn't be too far now; she could scent a hint of pine sap on the breeze.

Hazel pulled out the phone that Alphys had given her, not all that surprised that the battery was still fully charged. Thank you electricity magic! She hadn't received anything from the others yet although it had been almost a day since she had reached Norway. Her fingers hovered over the call button but hesitantly fell back to her sides. She would wait. They could wait.

"Welp. Time to keep moving." Travelling was a breeze out here in the sticks. The great outdoors as she liked to say but it wouldn't be so without looking towards the skies. A sick roll of thunder suddenly roared across the sky and Hazel shuddered. It was already freezing up here! As if snow or rain would do her any better.

Hours passed and with it came the soft rolling green mountains covered in thick swathes of waterlogged trees. Darkness shrouded the forest floor underneath the canopy, bringing with it the jubilous cries of bobcats and owls alike. Hazel could hardly care as the real task was finding somewhere dry to rest. Her phone suddenly began to ring.

"I suppose you have more reasons to connect me with your fugitive? Come in." Toriel's tone was brisk and irritated, more bothered by two strange women coming through the door at midnight. "The children are asleep-" She growled, her red eyes glaring as she locked the door behind the officers. "I intend to keep it that way so talk quietly."

"Very well." Came one of the officer's response. She was tall, with sandy blonde hair and vivacious green eyes. She looked to be exhausted as well. "Is there a place we can sit for now?"

"Mmm." Toriel showed the two ladies towards the dining room table, folding her hands in front of her while she waited for them to settle down. "Well? Are we going to waste moonlight?"

"Excuse me. My partner is setting up her tracker right now." The very tall brunette next to her pulled out a thick laptop and began fiddling with the settings and browsers. "Now, -"

"It's Toriel, thank you, dear." Toriel corrected.

"Well then. . As you know, the Interpol have already been contacted with clues about the suspect's profile and known record. However, we have one clue that we might be able to get from you."

"And that is?"

"Location." The brunette spoke up slowly. Her brown eyes held no emotion in them as far as the glint of the screen in her eyes. "We have tracked the numbers traced in the area and we know that you have been in contact with a number registered to the suspect."

"I'm afraid I don't understand." Toriel faked, her tone becoming a bit more confused and impatient. "In contact with the suspect? Why would you need some data like that for location?"

"We want you to call your little friend." The blonde replied. "You call her and the phone activates. We get exactly where she is and as long as the phone is alive, we can track her wherever she goes. So… you mind ringing that cell of yours?"

"I do mind." Toriel snapped. "Hazel is innocent and she has nothing to do with whatever that excavation is! I'm not turning her into a tracking chip because of your investigation." She seethed.

"Now that's interesting." The brunette spoke up. "The police around Ebott have already connected two main suspects to the bones. But we never said anything about your friend having to do with those corpses. We just found items belonging to her around the crime scene and we'd like to question her about them. Awfully defensive, I might think."

"And I have the right to be. What say you if I do call her-"

"When you call her." The blonde corrected smugly.

"If I call her." Toriel threatened. "Are the Interpol going to jail her? Or bring her back here to the states?"

"Depends." The brunette answered neutrally. "If she is connected to the bones, then yes, we have to jail her. She will be brought back to the states regardless. We need her to be here on first-hand accounts."

"I need to have your word that nothing else will happen to her should I call her." The two feds looked at each other, both reluctant but agreeing anyway.

"Innocent until proven guilty." Came the blonde's biting response.

Toriel took a deep breath before pulling her cell phone out of her apron pocket. She picked through the pin and began to scroll through the contacts. There it was. Her clawed fingers hovered over the keys, anxious and afraid.

She had no idea if Hazel had gotten Sans's call or not. That anything could happen to her out on the other side of the world. In a foreign land with a foreign language and people that she had never seen before. Far away from her care.

"Anytime today, Toriel."

She pushed the button. The dial began to ring quietly in her hands, the three waiting eagerly for their victim to answer the phone. It took four long rings before the tone snapped and the sound of rain cut through the other receiver.

"Uh, Tori. No offense, but isn't it a bit too early to be calling me?" Came a small voice on the other end of the phone. The brunette grinned as her laptop began to ping loudly.

"It is very early, yes. You don't mind, do you?" The blonde began to write something on a piece of paper, holding it up for Toriel to see. Haltdalen, Norway. Hazel was almost towards the Arctic Circle.

"Nah. The midnight sun is up and adam all day out here but it's actually around six or seven in the morning." The sound came through crystal clear but so did the sounds of chirping owls and the sound of a tree falling. The brunette turned her monitor around so that Toriel could see. In the southern portion of Haltdalen, a small white ping was moving forward, gradually easing around the city through the thick woods. "So what's up?"

"Did Sans ever call you with my message?"

"Message? No. The last time I used this phone was when I was on my plane. Why? Is it important?"

"Very. I stress this to you very clearly so please listen."

"Whoa. Alright, if it's got you calling me at midnight then I'm all ears. Let me hear it." The sounds of another tree falling swished through the ends of the phone along with the screech of a bobcat.

"The Interpol are looking for you."

"First of all, seriously? I just got here and I'm already being hunted down. Wow" Toriel heard a sarcastic snort before Hazel came back to the phone, a loud snap echoing. "Big whoop. I've been hunted down before. What of it?"

"Right after you left as we all split up, excavators down in Ebott found thousands of bones and corpses littered around the site. They found some of your stuff at the site, and they're going to track you down." Toriel paused as did Hazel. There came a loud thump and a clap of thunder before the other side was briefly muffled. The rain vanished.

"Wait. They have my stuff?"

"Wha- oh, they have found things like photos, books, cassettes-"

"They found it? Things I've been looking for for years? And they suddenly dig it up out of nowhere?"

"Did you know about the corpses?" Toriel pushed on. There was a long pause on the other end before Hazel spoke again.

"Let's see. We're talking about a thousand bodies scattered around so yeah, I might know something. I might even say that I could definitely be connected to the case. But that's old news." Toriel almost choked.

"I'm sorry."

"Sorry for what? Your calls are already being tracked. If that's the case then I'm screwed either way."

"There are two agents here with me listening in on the call. I-" Toriel mumbled on anxiously.

"Ratted me out? Don't worry about it. You keep the kids safe that way. Is this on speaker? You said the two feds could hear me."

"Yes, they can hear you."

"Good. Now let me analyze everything that you've just told me. The FBI believes that I am connected to the bones around because they found a crate of my stuff with them. They are using this call to track my location and anything I might tell you. Enough said, I'm already screwed so how about I put the nail in the coffin already? Listen up feds, this is for you. I'm coming for the stuff that you dug up. That's my property you've got and I'd like to have it back. Family stuff, ya' know?"

"Family stuff?" Came the blonde's reply. "You've just proven and I have it on audio record that you are connected to the bones. You come back, you're being jailed for years."

"Yes, family stuff as far as I remember. I do know a lot about those bones and yes, I should be your prime suspect. Jailed too in modern terms. I'm not gonna lie. However, if you want to forcefully track me down using my friends, you can expect this to turn into the world's longest game of cat and mouse. Literally."

"And that's supposed to mean?"

"Means this. Cut my friends out of this. Wipe them off your record. Don't even think about doing any hostage shit to get me come to you. I'm already on my way back to the city. And by the way, I'm only coming to get my stuff. You try to handcuff me or lock me up and I will tear out your throat and spread your entrails from Cape Town to Naukan. And that's a certain threat you don't want on your head. Especially from me. I'll find your Interpol shortly. Forward this call to them, they'll want to hear it before they come at me with a gun. I can promise you that." Hazel's tone was crisp and cold, with little to no emotion held in its depth.

"Brave words coming from a fugitive."

"Nah. Coming from somebody who has the stamina to put up with your bullshit. And Toriel. I'll have my phone on me at all times. Call me whenever. Tell the others that I will be watching out for them. If the feds or whoever come knocking down your door or something like that, you'd better believe I'll be there. It's too bad. I just got finished eating too and reindeer meat does tend to make somebody sleepy. Sorry for putting you in this crappy position but I have no time to chew the fat while I'm dancing down towards Bergen again. See you soon-" The phone cut off.


	10. Into the Flames

g to catch the ends with her paws. Snow fell down in thick blankets, turning the field into an endless tundra with the thick fog obscuring what little vision she had left. The tail seemed to keep slipping out of her vision. Who did it belong to? Voices called from ahead, urgent and boisterous. A child cried out, muffled by the merciless sheets of snow.

She was cold. Her limbs plowed on like columns of stone and she moved with a harsh limp. Frostbite had snaked its way up her tail and paws, and her body was covered in deep cuts and scratches that had long since become infected. The ice had now frozen them shut. Even now, her fur was plastered to her body and waterlogged her clothes and froze her skin. The smell of sea salt and crusted blood hung thick in the air. She felt her eyes drooping but kept up with the tail, watching the snow pass harmlessly over the thick black fur.

"Hold on." She begged, dragging her paws out of a hidden rabbit hole. Her paw held fast, the exposed roots seeming to grab her by the ankles and hold on. "Wait!" The tail disappeared into the cloud of the snow and the shouts got louder. Hazel breathed desperately, gritting her teeth as she yanked her hind legs free and tore after the black tail again. Her paws skid out from underneath her and she fell back against the snow.

"Where are you? Anybody?" Her voice began to sound hoarse and brittle, her claws catching weakly on the snow as she attempted to do something to find that tail again. "I can use my magic, can't I?" But she failed. No heat cradled her frozen body or drifted up in clouds of steam. She called out feebly and limped onwards. Nobody.

"No-" Her paw had struck thin snow causing her to break through the surface of the ice. Her vision faltered as tongues made of flames covered her in head to toe. She flailed under the ice, cold water starting to push its way in. She clawed at the icy surface, willing it to crack but it was unyielding, closing up above her.

Her limbs began to go limp and they were again nothing but useless lumps of stone pulling her towards the bottom of the lake. A shadow skirted across the surface, bringing with it cold yellow eyes that pierced through the layer like a summer sun. But by then, there was nothing to hear or see underneath the ice.

Something slimy had grabbed hold of her tail and yanked her down. She turned to claw at it but could only screech in silent panic as more of the arms grabbed hold of her fur and forced her further. She felt the water as it filled her lungs and pooled in her body slowly. Arms. They were human arms. Nails long since loosened revealing black skin. Some had bones peeking through the flesh. And then she blacked out.

She blinked herself awake, her body colder than death itself. She breathed, something rough tickling her ear. She went to raise her head but faltered. She was covered in cold sand along with sunken pieces of glass, seaweed, and… were those chunks of flesh? The pressure of the lake water suddenly came into effect around her forcing her to lay down against the sandy bottom. Cold mutilated bodies lay sprawled around her, arms and legs detached and bloated. Fleshless bones propped up in the sand and empty skulls turned to watch as she drowned again. Slowly.

Hazel stumbled awake in a cold sweat, her eyes narrow slits as she breathed in as much air as possible. The light of the sun did little to nothing to warm her lifeless fur as she emerged from the lip of the cave where she had taken a nap. She breathed in slow, keeping towards the warmth of the sun. "I'm not sleeping for a week after that." She gasped.

The relapses had gotten stronger, taking her in the dead of sleep and transporting her somewhere that she had unconsciously hidden deep inside of her soul. Places that had burned themselves into her psyche ages ago. Places that made her dread stopping for even a minute. She checked the stars above her head angling them with the flat back of her paws to calculate her position. "If I'm still somewhat conscious from my dream, I should be about fifteen miles away from Bergen, so to speak." She yawned.

She stretched, hearing her spine and the rest of her bones pop as she faltered uneasily away from the cave. She'd be glad to get back to familiar territory. All that was left was a bare stretch of plains that would cut around the connecting edges of the fjords. She could only hope that when she arrived, tasers and loaded guns wouldn't be waiting for her.

Hazel panted as she reached the top of the mountains, the blisters in her paw pads swollen and burning with an intense pain. The sun sat in the middle of the sky so she had arrived at the peak near afternoon. She could see the golden lights of the city glowing on the edge of the fjord to the west, a deep apprehension building in her gut. Brave words were brave words but could she really go through with this? Her phone buzzed again, drawing her out of her thoughts.

"Hello?" She drawled, choking back a weary yawn. "Who is this?"

"Tracking your location. Standby." Came the voice of a lady who sounded just as tired as she was. Gotta hand the props to the cops.

"Alright. I come in peace by the way. No funny business though." Hazel tried to lighten the mood, her ears catching the whip of helicopter blades roaring overhead. "Oh. I see you took to the skies." A dark blue and black helicopter swayed slowly over the hills, moving towards her at a resolute speed. Hazel ended the call and propped herself up on a nearby tree stump. The helicopter landed in a flat grass bed and three men got out. Only one of them had a gun; a rifle. They started to argue about something before they turned their heads to stare up at her.

"Do I have something in my teeth?" She called down sarcastically. Thankfully, the man with the rifle seemed to unload his rounds and stashed the weapon back in the chopper. She muttered a silent thanks under her breath and stood easily. "I'll come down to you. Wait." With a small hop, skip, and a jump, she was easily padding down the base of the hill to stand thirty feet from the front of the plane.

"Stay there." Came the first officer's response. Naturally English by the sound of them. He had curly brown hair with beady brown eyes. He was the one with the gun. The other two beside him were lanky and ginger-haired. The man pulled out a monitor from his waist pocket and uttered something into it. "Ginsky. Fallom. Please escort the suspect to the body of the helicopter." After a brief pause, he muttered, "No handcuffs needed."

"Thanks." Hazel shrugged as the two officers reached her and flanked her as they walked slowly towards the helicopter. They stopped short, Ginsky stooping into the plane as did Fallom. Before they could reach out a hand to help her up, the first officer stopped them.

"Name is Officer Jean. We've been told not to handcuff you but if you try anything in the violent nature I can and will cuff you or worse." Hazel snorted and shrugged her shoulders.

"It's only going to be difficult if you make it difficult. I'm just here because I want my stuff back. Plain and simple." The two ginger officers pulled her into the plane before securely buckling her down. Officer Jean took the pilot's seat turning back to see if everything was going smoothly. Hazel winked.

"This is officer Jean preparing for takeoff. We have the suspect in our custody. Over." The man pressed a few buttons on the console and the blades above begin to whir loudly. Not before long, the aircraft had taken off and away into the sky.

Hazel was roughly roused from her nap as Officer Ginsky and Fallom shook her awake. "We're here." But she was not in Bergen as she had assumed. They had flown her down to Oslo and then had her board a private plane back to the states. Ginsky and Fallom had voted to keep her under control on the flight over and were now escorting her off of the plane and onto the flat airport launch bed in seconds.

Officials in police uniform along with men in tuxedos stood and waited as Ginsky and Fallom let her go unscathed. Nobody else waited for her. This was going to be a long day. At the head of the crew was a chubby man with casual attire on. He spoke words in hushed tones to his crew and they shepherded her towards a large black van. Of course. Anything to look as vaguely threatening as possible. Not.

A few more hours and she was let out at a brick building at the center of the city. The police led her not towards a cell but towards a room with one way in and one way out, a glass window allowing people to look in but not out. "In here." Hazel sat smugly in the provided chair, watching as the officers left her in the room by herself.

"I wonder what happens next." She pondered aloud before raising a hind leg to scratch herself behind the ears. "God, I could eat-" Not before long, two people came into the room, both of them carrying boxes. "Oh good. I was wondering how much time was going to be wasted sitting in this boring room with nothing to do." She snarked.

"Nice to meet you too. Officer Jenns." The lady officer set down a dirty crate deliberately covered by plastic wrap. She had friendly blue eyes but her tight-lipped smile suggested something different. The man that came in behind her set down a metal container filled with something that sounded like plastic. "That's Officer Berum. We're here to interrogate you over the bones found around ."

"And here I thought I'd be able to collect my stuff and go. Guess not, huh?"

"You will get your stuff after the interrogation is over. Your stuff is in this box actually." Jenns gave the top of the box a light pat and moved it to sit in her lap. "Berum. Take it from the top." The man reached into the belly of the box with gloved hands and pulled out a femur with a cracked proximal epiphysis. "You said you would be able to identify and connect the bones. Well?"

"Do you have any extra gloves on you? I like to physically examine what I'm given." Berum pulled out an extra set of latex gloves from his waist pocket and handed them to her. "Thanks. I wouldn't want to mess with the DNA on this." Hazel picked up the fragments of the bone and attempted to piece them back together. A lot of bone chips were missing. The crack down the middle was messy with chunks of the spongy bone missing as well as jagged marks down the diaphysis.

She let her pads skim over the dips recognizing the familiar markings. Of course. She wasn't familiar with the certain year but these bones belonged to a teenager, almost an adult. The trailer incident. It was hard to forget, considering that Hazel had buried these bones herself on a hot summer day right after the drought storms. Why they dug her up after she painstakingly made an honorary grave was her guess.

"So?"

"I know who these bones belong to. Easy to tell. Look at the scrapes on the diaphysis and the messy break in the bones." Jenns broke out a notebook and paused, her pen poised and ready to write.

"Give us everything you've got."

"Don't know the name. I can tell you her description though." Hazel took a moment to remember the scraps of flesh that had been littered just behind the old trailer, covered in blood, saliva, and bodily fluids of foreign origin along with a missing throat. A ripped chew toy without its squeaker. "Curly blond hair, blue eyes, and I think she had a birthmark in the crease of her elbow. She looked to be around five foot two and she was very skinny. Pale skinned. Also, she was wearing a white dress with a small pink ring. Hard to miss it."

"How do you have all of these details?" Berum asked, his eyes narrowed with suspicion. Hazel scowled and leaned back in her chair.

"I found the remains of this girl after she had been raped by some guy in the woods and torn to shreds by a giant dog. I buried this one myself so deep that no hungry predator could have reached her. Look at the break in the bone and the teeth marks. Easy to spot." Jenns reported the list and took out something from her pocket. She slid a small photo across the table.

"Is this the person who these bones belonged to?" And there she was. Whole again with a happy glimmer in her eyes and a corny grin to show it.

"That's her." Jenns put the bones away and smiled.

"For a killer, you're not too bad." She paused. "The coroner examined the marrow in the bones and came to the same conclusion. Your detail is more vivid though. We'll add that to the report."

"Well, that's something. Are you going to have me recall all of the bones?"

"No. Just the ones that the coroner couldn't match up." Berum pulled out a brown skull with a pair of identical shoulder blades and a broken rib cage. He took over for her as she labeled the bones.

"The coroner concluded that these bones all came from the same person." Hazel cleaned the DNA from the old gloves and searched the new ones. The skull had been smashed in with the sphenoid having dents and craters near where the sella turcica should have been. The bottom jaw had been wired back together after being found in splinters. Hazel examined the underside of the skull and found that there was a new round fossa near the foramen magnum. Just near where the crease started. A spare piece of something metal was embedded in the skull. She could smell it.

"I know who this belongs to. Tall dark-skinned male. Taller than average around six foot four. Lanky and he had polydactyly. Curly black hair with the left side shaved away, brown eyes. Found this one luring kids into the woods with promises of finding buried valuables in the heart of the forest. Pushes the idiots into the central gorge that passes through the center. Ganked him before he could wonder what hit him. As a matter of fact, I did."

"You killed him?" Berum asked, suddenly looking interesting.

"Would you have let five tiny kids under the age of ten be pushed into a deep rocky gorge filled with snakes, spiders, and probably foxes? Like I said, the guy got as far as thinking about pushing them in. I got him with a crossbow made of iron and ice. That's why there's a piece of iron in his skull. Managed to herald the children back to the entrance of the forest where some officers had almost arrested some kid for graffitiing a house and that was that. I let the wolves have him afterwards. No honor in burying a child predator and killer."

Again Jens slid forward three photos of people who looked a bit alike. "These are the only people who haven't been identified yet with your description. Do you see this man in them?"

"To the left. Five o'clock shadow. That's the one."

"I just have one more thing to ask you before I hand you this crate. Don't think we're letting you go easy. We need you to identify every set of bones that haven't been corrected by the coroner so you're going to be here for a while."

"Then ask me the question already."

"We have the data to prove that you deliberately murdered Thomas O'Wille for child persecution. We now have reason to suspect that this may be the case for other unidentified bones. We understand that your current involvement with the scene is merely dictating who is who but we will need you to confess if there are other incidents like this one."

"Of course," Hazel replied straight away. "I used to live in that forest years ago and I have seen a lot. Bad things, I mean. I can and will confess to other incidents like this but I will tell you up front that none of these bones were produced simply for fun. Most of the incidents were from self-defense of myself or for others. That is and will remain my act of "murder"." Officer Jenns nodded before she and Berum left the room.

Jenns had set the dirty box on the plastic table before she left, murmuring something about Hazel being able to keep whatever was in it. So as soon as the door clicked shut, Hazel began to tear through the box. She found old mangled books, clay paintings, and a photo album. What really got her were the cassette tapes at the bottom that were labeled haphazardly. She didn't remember her parents ever having these...

Asgore pulled up in a parking spot outside of the police station, careful not to damage the documents in the passenger seat. After being notified of the situation, Asgore was quick to inquire as to whether Hazel was okay. He was a bit skeptical at first but that had changed when he had walked through the doors. The attendant at the counter had been waiting for him and had readily escorted him through the back halls. They took many twists and turns before they came to a dark hallway covered in glass windows.

A few had onlookers but the lady beside him escorted him to the one in the center. And there she was. Hazel was talking to three guys in checkered vests. A box of crumpled bones lay on one side of the table, all of them tagged in messy handwriting. The officers were on their feet, one of them practically throwing unlabelled bones at her and then yelling something across the room. Hazel looked exhausted and irritated but took the bones, muttered something under her breath and put them back in the same spot that she had found them.

The men would hand her a photo and she'd point to one. Every single time, they checked a packet of documents under the table before labeling the bones and placing them into another box of bones. Then the cycle would start all over again.

"Excuse me." Asgore cleared his throat loudly. "I'm here for Hazel."

"Aren't we all?" Came a sarcastic voice from the door of the room. "You have the clear to speak to her. She's identified every undocumented bone. They all match up perfectly." Asgore squeezed into the small room, unnoticed by Hazel as he found a chair to sit in. The officers had been talking about her crystal clear connection to the bones and here she sat, fumbling with a few cassette tapes in her paws.

"Hazel." The small cat monster jumped before breathing in relief.

"Take a selfie. It'll last longer." Hazel replied easily. Too easily. He could see that the fur on her tail stood up nervously and her eyes had a wild edge to them. Something bad, he could tell after a week of keeping an eye on her. "So, why are you here?"

"I have been attempting to have them release you to my custody but they are relentless. I'll try to get you out of this place somehow. They are saying that you are connected to the bodies of the deceased. Is that true?"

"It is." The words slipped off of her tongue too easily. Something was up. "So far, I am connected with two hundred and seventy-six bones or bodies in total. I'm going for a high score of three hundred." Asgore blanched. How could she make a joke out of this? This whole thing was horrendous. She seemed to notice his lack of words and filled in the blanks with minutes to spare.

"Self-defense, if that's what's got your trident in a twist. But hey, at least I got my stuff." She fiddled around with the tapes before switching them out for a photo frame.

"I have heard. You say that this is old heirlooms found near the main excavation site?"

"Right. I thought all of this stuff had gone up in flames years ago but they're all still here. Nothing too bad. Just basic junk from our old house is all. The police were not authorized to peep in here so only I know what's in here. Heh."

"Child, I cannot see how you are remaining calm at the prospect of facing prison." Asgore finally spoke up.

"Me? Calm? Nah. You realize that I could probably melt these brick walls, right? I could get out of here, not unscathed but that's not my plan right now. It's making sure that this crate of junk stays with me."

"I will notify the others and let them know that you are okay… are you sure you are alright, Hazel?" She had quietly begun to pant under her breath, claws flexing against the underside of the table. Her eyes had narrowed and darted around the room before she blinked them rapidly.

"I'm fine. S' just a… a migraine is all." But Asgore knew better. Before he could check her, she put her head down on the table and grunted something, her ears drawn flat against her head. She twitched once and was out like a light. But nobody was around to see it; only Asgore.

He drew her soul out and watched as the cracked surface pulsed and seethed angrily. He tried to draw up her status but failed, recoiling as the angry pulsing tore new cracks into the center of the soul. Faint light sprung up but was quickly snuffed as more misdemeanor crept up and smothered them before they could even fight back. The tiny soul trembled for mere seconds before it dropped like a cold river-washed pebble into his giant hands.


	11. Cries of the Bones

Heavy beads of warm rain pounded overhead as Hazel crept forward on shaky paws, her tail seeming to catch in the undergrowth as she stumbled home, a dead rabbit swinging in her jaws. Her first rabbit catch since her fourth birthday, she was so excited! The sun had gone down a while ago. She felt the beady eyes of the barn owls watching her in the dead of night, but watching her piece of prey closer.

Something screeched into the darkness of the night, dripping like cold sap as it fumbled its way into her ears. A crow shrieked overhead, its' eyes illuminated as a fork of lightning split the black sky into fragments. Hazel checked her surroundings before stepping off away from the was only her fifth time being away from her parents for the third week in forever. An agonized moan ripped through the sound of the rain, Hazel's ears pricked high. That sounded like a human!

"Nobody can hear you out here, so sit still before I decide to pleasure just myself." She just barely avoided bursting into the clearing, pausing at the scent of freshly spilled blood and wet moss. "Don't pretend you aren't enjoying this." Hazel peered out of the bushes, her eyes catching the faint silhouette of two humans cradled against the gnarled flooded roots of an old elm tree.

The figure on top was tall and bulky but their voice was oddly feminine. They sat on the other figure, male by the looks of it. The female got to her feet. Something popped but Hazel couldn't exactly see where. "Don't look so surprised Tamil." She hissed, pulling the man up roughly by the collar of his shirt. "Now we'll be together forever." The man named Tamil cried out again, muffled by a thick wad of moss and twigs.

Something cold flashed in the lightning. A sickening crunch echoed through the air shortly followed by Tamil screeching into the night. The sound was heard again, and again until something changed. The man fell silent at last leaving the heavy tang of blood and something else in the warm air of the monsoon. Hazel stood rooted to the spot in pure fear.

The lady cackled underneath her breath and took up her knife, inching the blade into the man's pelvis. Skin ripped and muscles tore as she hacked at the elastic skin, the thud of the mystery body part falling to the floor. "It's too bad. We could've had a lot more fun, you know?" She took up the blade and began to slash at his face, first taking out his eyes. She tossed them away into the bushes and did the same for his nose. She then severed his tongue and held it up to the light before putting the dead end on the edges of her lips. She proceeded to make out with the severed tongue before shoving it slowly into her loins, only stopping when all of it had fit itself inside of her.

She drew her fingers lovingly over the torn skin, taking pleasure in hacking at his arm and legs muscles. Hazel could just barely glimpse the huge tear on his back, making a long column of bones visible. At the slightest touch, the cord came loose and fell onto the wet grass. The lady took up her blade and sliced a long line down the man's abdomen only stopping to lick the blood off of her hands. She then took the thick slices of flesh in her hand and ripped them apart to reveal bleeding layers of exposed tissue. She took those apart too, shattering the lower half of his ribcage to reveal his inner organs. She purred something under her breath before fisting the intestines and shoving them into her mouth.

Hazel gagged and covered her mouth. Anything to avoid being detected. Before she could avert her eyes again, something heavy had clapped down on her shoulder. Burning yellow eyes seemed to glow unnaturally in the dead of night. She knew this scent! It was her father. A pair of glistening blue eyes arose on the other side of the clearing, eyes glazed in fried emotions and horror. The lady began to hack at the man's head again, prying piece by piece free until a loud crack rang through the air. The skull had come free leaving the boneless flesh and cartilage to flop to the forest floor. She took the skull and caressed it gently, cooing something to it.

Lightning flashed overhead bringing roaring thunder as well. The bushes on the other side were suddenly parted. A thick branch snapped loudly. The woman stood again with the skull and made to leave. It was only after Hazel had finally seen the gory details in the brunt of the light that she had violently vomited into the bushes. An ear-splitting caterwaul split the air and the clearing was suddenly soaked in blood.

The dark greens and grays of the forest melded into the barren and dusty golds and grays of an empty prairie field. Stars sparkled above revealing an all too familiar trail of stars. This time, Hazel skirted the fields victorious with the neat carcass of an elk draped across her back. She stopped to chow down on her midnight snack, a bit peeved that the meat was stringy and dry. She'd have to get something to drink before she could turn in for the night.

She skirted the edge of the fields, hearing the river roar through the wheat fields. Bingo. As she made her way to the bank, she checked for any humans or pets before lowering her head to drink. She immediately spat it out. "Eugh!" She ran her tongue around her mouth, curling her lips at the disgusting taste of the river water. "That doesn't make any sense! This river goes through the middle of nowhere. Why would it taste so gross? Ugh!" She shook the disgusting droplets from her muzzle and started to pad away when something hit the roof off her mouth like a brick: maggots.

"Please tell me I didn't just drink maggot-infested water." She croaked. She honed in on the scent, following it upstream towards where the fields transversed into deserted rocky moors. "Now where is it-" Her eyes paused and glimpsed back into the shadows, eyes drawn to the hint of something glittering in the darkness. She padded forward on careful paws, ears flattened against her neck. First maggots, then the stench of rotting flesh and coagulated blood. That was what she was tasting on the water. She would have to rinse her mouth out thoroughly with yew and yarrow later.

She clicked her claws together, recoiling at what her flames had brought to light. A small woman laid face-down in the shallow pool of a small waterfall, drained entirely of blood through a large cut in her loins. There were empty craters where her ears should have been, and it looked as though one of her internal organs had been ripped out through her nether regions as well. Only the faint trace of menstrual blood identified which one it had been. That and the carrying scent of certain bodily fluids. All of her joints had been violently slashed and mutilated, including the center of her throat.

The remains of her skull were severely caved in, a distinct cluster of teeth laid out by the rocky river bed below. Her diaphragm had been ripped out and something else had been placed back in its spot. A fetus. A dead and fully grown human fetus had been skinned alive and stuffed into the dead mother's thoracic cavity. Hazel blanched and staggered away from the body, only moving back to set the remains on fire.

Hazel felt her eyes blink open, shutting them tightly in response to the blinding light that showed up through the open windows. Everything hurt, especially her mouth and her paws. Her muscles shrieked in protest as she tried to get off of the bed, wondering how she even got here in the first place. It hurt too much to speak or open her eyes for that matter. She slowly moved to lay on her side, wincing as she rolled over onto her tail. She bit back a cry of pain and removed her tail from underneath her heavy torso. It was daylight but she felt as though she hadn't slept in months. The sound of morning birds drifted in through the window, almost muffling the sound of a door opening with a rusty creak.

"Who's there?" She called out weakly. Her own voice had fallen away to a feeble squeak near the end.

"You're awake." Came a deep response. Hazel barely parted her eyes, first registering large curling horns before making out a set of dark mahogany eyes that peered worriedly at her from her bedside. Hazel fully blinked her eyes open.

"Asgore? What are you… how did I…?" She tried to sit up but fell back helplessly, biting her tongue to keep her from hissing as a hot pain shot up from her teeth.

"Rest easy," Asgore replied. "That was quite a migraine. The officers allowed for me to take care of you for the time being until you get better." Hazel mumbled a stuttering apology before wincing as her tongue brushed up against the roots of her canines. Asgore raised his eyebrows before shaking his head slowly.

"Ow." She gasped, wincing as the taste of blood rinsed through her mouth.

"What seems to be the trouble?"

"A toothache, I think." Hazel cradled her cheek with her paws, careful to avoid disturbing it. When had she damaged her teeth?

"I believe some tea and painkillers will do the trick. Wait here." Asgore rose from his seat and left the room, purposefully shutting the door. He soon returned with a small cup of tea and a pair of painkillers as promised. "Here."

"Thank you. I'll have to repay you back somehow."

"No need." Hazel plopped the two pills into her mouth and drowned them down with the tea, recognizing a burning hint in the tea before wincing as the hot liquid surged around the exposed nerves. "Get some more rest. Even though you've been asleep for two days now." Asgore rumbled.

"Two days?" She rasped. "That's too long!" Again, she tried to move but her muscles shrieked and forced her to lay back down. Why was she so tired?

"Stay in bed and get some rest! That is that. I've already told the others about your bad condition."

"My bad condition? What do you mean? You said it was just a migraine, remember?" Asgore avoided her eyes and twiddled his thumbs, allowing Hazel to try to shove the suffocating thick blankets off of her. "Asgore?"

"That is not all." The giant goat monster sat back down, his eyebrows furrowed as he played with the ends of his long golden beard. "You seemed to suddenly blackout at the police station. Something was wrong with your soul-"

"Wait. You checked me?" Hazel narrowed her eyes.

"Something had seemed uncharacteristic of you two days ago. I have contacted Alphys and she has no data regarding why your soul did what it did."

"And what exactly did my soul do?"

"Let me show you." Before Hazel could protest, Asgore was holding her soul in his hands. The edges were badly chipped along with a huge crack that almost split the soul in half. The innards were still attached by a thread. The majority of the soul was now a seething miasma of dark grays and blacks with specks of white here and there. It had gotten worse. "Your soul had "died" for a few minutes. Repeatedly. Do you have any idea what is going on?"

"I think I do. Now could you please put my soul back into my chest. I kinda need that, thanks." She breathed a sigh of relief as her soul returned back to its rightful cavity. "It was a relapse. Sorry you had to see that. I'll try to be more prepared when it happens again."

"Again? You have been violently twitching on and off for the past forty-eight hours. I should think that again would come soon." Asgore scowled. "I've never seen anything like this."

"I thought I already told you about this? Or was that with Sans and Papyrus?" Hazel shook her head and winced as her teeth began to ache.

"I don't remember this ever coming up between us. Explain."

"In the simplest way possible, my soul is shedding its skin or something like that. Don't worry about it." She yawned.

"Don't worry about it?" Asgore looked furious. "Nonstop twitching, night terrors, seizures, hellish fevers, and scratching yourself, and you tell me not to worry about it?" He roared.

"Seizures and night terrors? Excuse me. I was not told of these symptoms."

"You don't remember screaming blooding murder in the middle of the night twice?"

"No, I don't. Neither that or twitching and scratching myself."

"Look at your arms." Asgore gestured. Hazel watched as the blankets were moved back to expose bloody bandages covering her arms and legs. "You still do not remember?"

"All I remember was picking out whose bones were whose and then waking up feeling as though I've been put through a meat grinder. I didn't realize that I worried you so much in my sleep." Asgore pinched his nose between his large claws before sighing loudly.

"It is… quite alright. You are awake now, yes? Tell me if you are feeling sick at any time." Asgore stressed. Hazel seemed to now be unrespondent. Her eyes glazed over and shut before she nodded off again. The painkillers had taken effect along with the sleeping cold medicine he had mixed into her tea. He had used the same method back when Asriel had night terrors and they seemed to clear up a day afterward.

"Sleep soundly, young one. You'll need all the rest you can get." Asgore shut the curtains and blinds, dimming the room before stepping out entirely. He made sure to close the door in case Hazel was planning on going somewhere. The child always had a knack for escaping.

He trudged down the hall towards a hidden study where a dirty cardboard box sat alone on his desk. Other important business documents had been bundled and placed in a cupboard by the side. He closed the door behind him with a loud creak, taking care in lowering the volume of the tv that sat in the corner of the room. He took off the top of the box and peered in, removing one photo album, a hastily marked rock with marks in the sides and a battered cassette tape. It was the tape that interested him.

"LE-054/KAFH/GO13569. A strange label for a tape as old as this one." Asgore slowly felt the edges of the battered tape in front of him creak, the film inside being extremely old and valuable. Collectors would love to get their hands on something like this. He felt bad, snooping through Hazel's stuff while she had been away. He had been saving the tapes for last. He had tried to read through the books and photo albums but could not make sense of anything. The only subtitles were written in claw-scratch runes that could not be deciphered. Not in English, anyway. He had managed to transfer the tape into a VHR. The film had originally been from a VHR anyway, meaning that it had visual accompaniment. Whoever transferred this was smart enough to try and switch the details.

Asgore switched on his television and rolled the tape into the reader, watching from the shelter of his desk and the screen began to flicker. First came static, then the sounds of something ripping. First came somebody who was featured a lot in the photo albums. A huge black leopard-like monster with alarming yellow eyes and huge white fangs. In the full tape, he looked to be a behemoth. He had guessed the thing to be her father seeing as how there were a lot of family-related pictures with him involved.

He garbled something in some scratchy language that made Asgore's ears hurt. "The verbal form of the markings perhaps?" The leopard monster was bent over a bench full of dusty books and dirty tools. He called something out before moving to stand before a table. Asgore immediately paled. To the side laid an old workshop table and spread out across it was the pale corpse of a human covered in something shiny and clear.

Somebody else responded in the harsh language. Not before long, another monster had appeared. This one looked more wolfish, with long gnarled claws and a grin that suggested mischief. The mother. They began to bicker back and forth with each other, both of them gesturing at the human on the table. The mother had apparently won and was sharpening their long claws with the edges of a metal saw.

Something howled loudly upstairs. The father uttered something quickly before disappearing leaving the camera with just her now. She began to talk again, none of it intelligible but gentle-sounding. If the body hadn't been there, he would've thought that she sounded maternal. While she talked, she carved away parts of the human with just her claws until she had ripped out every bone in the body. The howling upstairs had stopped. Asgore paused the tape and forced himself to look out the window. Did Hazel know about this? He swallowed hard and continued watching the tape, only pausing to keep his lunch from coming back up on multiple occasions.

"Truly makes me wonder…" Asgore took the VHS player and wired it to a device directly above. He played the tape again. This time, the device would burn the image onto a cd, which he would download and send to the others via private file sharing. They had asked what was in the box on the same day he had brought her home. He would deliver. Even if this was just the first of the tapes. There was still twenty-nine more to go...


End file.
